Call and Answer
by citygrl
Summary: Dealing with the aftermath of Season 5, Rory makes a lifealtering decision... TRORY
1. Welcome

**Author's Note:** Well folks, this is my very first Trory so be gentle but let me know if you think it's worth continuing…

**GGGGGGGGG**

**Chapter 1: Welcome**

She got off the plane and looked around her. She was here. She did it. Well…it wasn't technically _here_ yet, but she was closer. Pulling her minimum two suitcases off the luggage carousel, Rory moved towards the waiting crowd, looking for the person holding a sign reading **Gilmore**. She wouldn't be able to thank her grandfather enough for setting this up for her. It was exactly what she needed—or so she hoped. Pushing the trolley full of her luggage, still exhausted from the flight, Rory was relieved when she finally found the man holding the sign.

"Miss Gilmore?" He asked her. Rory nodded. "You alright?"

She nodded, prepared for the strange question. "Just tired."

"Your flight was okay?" He asked her, taking hold of her trolley and moving towards the exit.

Once again, Rory nodded. "Thanks."

"Follow me and I'll take you into the city."

"Thank you."

She was going to spend two weeks in the city before being drive out into the country. Gran had a place in the city, though it was no longer used regularly, and her grandfather had been happy to give Rory the key for as long as she stayed in the country. There was other family spread through the country, but everyone had their own space. Richard and Emily only let her travel this far _because_ of all the family she had over here. Happy to see the car, she moved towards the open door. "Excuse me, what is your name?"

"Toby, miss."

"Thanks Toby." He closer the door as she slid inside and relaxed against the comfortable leather—her mother would kill her when she found out, but Rory needed to do this and wasn't going to let anyone stop her. She hadn't even told Logan what she was doing. They had broken up, badly, a few weeks ago and she wouldn't give her mother the pleasure of knowing. Begging her grandparents to keep quiet about it (not that they spoke to her mother often), Rory was using this time to get away from all of it. Hopefully London, Oxford University and the entire United Kingdom held something for her. There had to be something here that could change the way her life had become. The final straw had been her grandmother bringing her the D.A.R. application. Rory knew she needed out and since Yale was not an option, this was her "next best choice". It wasn't like Oxford was an awful school or anything. Just a little bit farther away then Yale. Distance was fabulous.

"Miss Gilmore?" Toby's voice shook her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry Toby." She slid out of the car and stared at the building in front of her. "So this is it, huh?"

"You've never been here before?"

Rory shook her head. "First time at the apartment, I've been to London before."

He nodded. "I'll make sure your things are brought up to you."

"Nonsense. I only have two suitcases, plus I have the key, so I'll be fine. Thanks though."

"If you are sure." He eyed her skeptically. "This is my number." He handed her a card, "I am at your service any time you need me. Your grandparents arranged it all."

"Thank you."

"Regardless I will see you in three weeks, I'll be driving you up to Oxford. The time will be arranged closer to departure date. Is there anything else you need?"

Rory smiled at him. "You've done quite enough, thank you."

Toby smiled and tipped his hat at Rory before getting her luggage out of the trunk, knowing the door would be opened for her. He got back into the car and drove away, leaving Rory to take a deep breath and walk to the front door. It was opened for her immediately. "Thank you."

"Miss Gilmore?" A male voice, the doorman, she saw, called out to her.

"Does everyone know of my arrival?" She questioned him.

He laughed. "Emily and Richard wanted to make sure you would be properly taken care of."

"You know them?"

"They usually stay here when they visit. I'm Nigel, the daytime doorman; Edward works at night. You're on the top floor, the only room up there."

"The entire _floor?_" Rory squealed.

Nigel laughed. "The entire floor miss."

"Leigh, please." London was a fresh start and she decided to use a different name.

He nodded. "It's a beautiful apartment Leigh, you'll enjoy living there."

"I'm sure. If you don't mind I'm going to check everything out before exploring the city."

"Of course. I'll be here if you need anything."

"Thank you Nigel."

Rory took a hold of her bag, smiling when Nigel held the elevator door for her. Rory headed up to the top floor, anxious to see her living quarters for the next few weeks and periodically throughout the semester. She walked into the apartment, registering that it was a duplex. Slamming the door behind her, Rory locked it, unzipped her suitcase, taking out the bathroom necessities she would need to wash the grime of the airplane off of her. Almost an hour later she grabbed the paper with her new address on it, her keys, and her purse and headed to explore London.

"Nigel?" She asked once she got downstairs. "Where can I find coffee?" It had been over four hours since she had a cup of coffee and it wasn't a good thing.

He laughed. "There is a Coffee Republic down the street. Make a right once you leave, at the corner go left, it's right up there, can't miss it."

"Thank you!" Rory smiled and headed out following his directions, excited at the prospect of getting coffee in her system. She ordered two of their biggest coffees, drank one quickly before she even left the store and savored the other as she continued outside to enjoy the unusually beautiful day in London.

Several hours later, Rory found herself sitting in a little café, the sign read Fiori's and she had registered it was on the edge of Leicester Square. Immediately ordering everything that looked good, Rory took the book out of her purse and began to read as she waited for her food. She didn't make it back to her new residence until after midnight, having taken a cab back in the end, and didn't even make it to the bed—she set her cell phone alarm and collapsed on the couch.

**GGGGGGGGGGG**

Tristan stepped out of the car and looked around. No matter how many times he came and left, there was something about London that excited him. Unfortunately, this time he would only be there for a few days before heading back to school. His parents had been surprised when he passed up all the Ivy League schools in America to move to the United Kingdom, but they didn't argue. He wanted to go to school and was serious about it, which was enough for them. He had finished school in North Carolina, not in military school, but the top prep school and increased his chances of getting away from Hartford—at least for a short amount of time.

Smiling, he checked into his hotel room, only a five-minute walk from Hyde Park, and went straight to sleep; it was extremely late and he was exhausted. Come morning however, he started his day with a run through Hyde Park, enjoying the beauty. After showering and heading out, Tristan wandered along the streets, starting with the closest—Oxford Street—he continued down, stopping in shops and a place for lunch of course and then turning right onto Charring Cross Road—straight for the literary section of the city as he liked to think of it. The entire street housed numerous used and new bookstores that he loved to go through each time he came, finding new and old treasures to add to his collection. His parents would be paying a fortune to ship his books back home when he finally returned.

He walked into a bookstore, heading over to the classics section, looking for one of his old favorites—_Casanova_—and barely looked around him. Disappointed that his favorite store did not have his favorite book, he rummaged around for something else that might catch his eye. It was during that aimless walk through the store that he saw her. At first he believed he was imagining her—"Of all the gin joints, in all the world, she walks into mine" was the first thought he had, smiling as he remembered her quoting the _other_ famous line, disappointed that he didn't know the movie reference. It wasn't long after that conversation that he rented _Casablanca_ and understood her love for the movie, as well as the quote she had used. How he wished it had been true—they were never friends after that. She said that she hated him and he was shipped off to military school—never to be heard of again. Tristan wondered what she was doing here—Lorelai Leigh Gilmore—Rory—MARY—was sitting only a few feet away from him. He could go over there and scare her to death, smirk at her, talk with her, find out what was going on in her life and why she was there, how long she was there, beg her to let him buy her a cup of coffee, but Tristan did none of those things. As quietly as he had approached, he backed away. Never letting her know he was there and never noticing her look up.

**GGGGGGGGGG**

On her third day in the city, Rory had located her favorite spot. The book street she called it, though she knew it wasn't _really_ that street. By this time, Nigel and Edward teased her about it, knowing that in the middle of the afternoon she went there and each night she came home from there. She had gone to the pub a few times, at their insistence, actually meeting a few nice people her age, but they weren't really _friends_, per se, just people she had met.

This particular day, Rory was slightly depressed over leaving the big city—Toby would be picking her up in two days for the start of term at her new university. She had called her grandparents every few days to let them know she was okay, and purchased a mobile phone, shutting down the one from home. Emily had asked what Rory wanted her to tell her mother, knowing that Lorelai would most likely call her daughter, only to get voicemail each time and eventually start hounding her for details on her daughter. Rory calmly assured her grandmother that her mother would not be inquiring about her, or calling her anytime soon, but should she do so, Emily should calmly tell Lorelai that Rory was abroad indefinitely and pass along her mobile number. Emily thought it wasn't the proper way to handle things, but Rory wouldn't let her do otherwise.

Rory had reached her favorite bookshop after a long walk around the city and a big lunch. She greeted the staff that she had become friends with, ordered the biggest coffee they had and curled into a chair, taking out the newest book she had purchased only the day before—_Casanova_. Rory had never read the book, but figured with all the male drama in her life, she should at least know the story behind the nickname. Though it was bothering her to read about such a player, reminding her of Logan, Rory continued to read.

She had no idea how long she had been there when she felt someone watching her. She lifted her head in time to see the person turn their head and walk away without saying anything. At first she thought she recognized the person, the boy—well the MAN—that had been watching, but he would have said _something_ to her if it was really him. She hadn't seen him since the night he left before _Romeo and Juliet_, when he told her he wouldn't kiss her because Dean wouldn't like it. There was no way after things being left like that, that he wouldn't say SOMETHING to her. Secure in those thoughts, Rory turned back to her book, and her coffee, enjoying her quiet time.


	2. In The Beginning

**Author's Note**: Well I'm so happy that everyone likes this story. Thanks for all your wonderful comments. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations! Enjoy!

**GGGGGGGG**

**Chapter 2: In The Beginning**

"Are you sure you'll be okay Miss Leigh?"

She and Toby had become friends the past three weeks—after that first cab ride, her grandmother yelled at her for not using the appointed driver, she didn't trust those cab drivers! If they weren't going to kidnap her they were going to rip her off and Emily didn't want to hear it! So Rory started to use Toby and they immediately became friends. At the moment he was helping her transport her belongings from the car to her new dorm room. She had a two bedroom, she had insisted her grandparents make sure she wasn't sharing a bedroom-the dorm itself would be complicated enough to share. Toby helped her bring the last of the things outside and was now standing at the door.

'I'll be perfectly fine Toby, no need to worry."

"You'll call me if you want to come down to London, correct? It's no trouble at all and I don't want you taking a bus or train down. Your grandparents are paying me for a reason, remember?"

Rory felt guilty about being driven around everywhere, but Toby forced her to see that her grandparents were already paying him, she might as well use him. He won that argument. "I will, I promise. You have someone else to take care of down there, correct?"

It was a long standing joke—well as long as a three week old friendship allowed—between them. Rory liked to make sure Toby had other people to drive around, other jobs, when she wasn't using him. "Don't worry about me Miss Leigh"

She smiled. "Thanks for your help."

"Anytime." With a final tip of his hat, Toby left the building and headed for the now empty car.

With a resigned sigh, Rory moved back towards her belongings and started to unpack, wondering when her roommate was.

"Hello? Lorelai?"

Rory cringed at the name, but realized that was probably what was written on the sheet. Thinking about it, Rory realized that no one here knew her, knew anything about her past, good and bad, so she could be anyone she wanted. She finally had the chance to start over—the entire reason why she out here in the first place. It had taken awhile to get used to Nigel, Edward and Toby calling her Leigh, but she managed.

"It's Leigh actually." Rory came out of her room with a smile. "In a moment of vanity, my mother named me after her, so I'm referred to by my middle name." She looked over at the girl, noticing she had very little luggage and no parents either. "Exchange student?"

"That noticeable?" She said with a sigh.

"Only by the limited luggage. Where are you from?"

"Atlanta."

Once she said it, Rory heard her slight southern accent.

"Oh, where are my manners?" The girl was slightly flustered. "I'm Ella." She held her hand out and Rory shook it. "I take it you're an exchange student as well?"

"For now, I may stay permanently though, finish up university here."

"Oh, cool." Ella smiled at her. "Have you been here long?"

She shook her head. "Only an hour or so. Did you just get in?" The girl nodded. "I've been staying in London the past few weeks. My family has an apartment there."

"Really?"

"It was my great-grandmother's actually, and now my grandparents use it and quite generously allow me to stay there."

"That's very nice. My family has property in Spain."

"Are you Spanish?"

"No, my mom just loves it there. Dad wants property in Italy next."

"Society?" Rory asked with a laugh.

"How'd you guess?"

"Sounds like my grandmother, always wanting to live somewhere other then where she is—though it's not really living is it? It's more like acquiring a spot to live."

Ella laughed. "That's very true. You're very different from most society girls, where are you from again?"

"Oh, Connecticut."

"You're part of _Hartford_ society."

"Not really, why?"

"Not really? I thought you said your grandparents…"

"Oh yeah, they're society, but my mom…" Rory faltered at the mentioned of her mother. With a quick intake of breath she got it over with, figuring the topic was like a band-aid, the faster you pulled it off the better. "My mom didn't want to raise me in society life, she hated it herself, so she ran away with me."

"Ran away?"

"She was 16 when I was born."

"Wow."

"Yeah. If you don't mind, I'm going to start unpacking."

"Not at all, I should do the same. Do you want to get dinner?"

"That would be nice." Rory wanted to make friends, she would need them, they would be the only way she could forget everything and everyone that she left behind.

The girls worked separately for a few hours, Ella finally coming into Rory's room. "I am so tired!"

"I know what you mean." Rory was pulling books out of boxes that had been waiting. She had asked her grandparents to ship a few things, including bedding for her. It had been waiting when she got there. "Did your parents ship you things as well?"

Ella nodded. "Bedding and some simple stuff like that. I didn't know how easy it would be to find out here."

"My thoughts exactly."

"So Leigh, are you ready for dinner?"

As if on cue, Rory's stomach growled. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Think we could stop for some coffee on the way?"

"Coffee?" She looked confused.

"The elixir of life, the only reason I can function at any time day or night."

"So you're addicted?"

"I don't like to consider it an addiction, I prefer obsession."

Ella laughed. "Good, I have one too!"

"Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"I love that movie!"

Rory laughed. "We really are going to be good friends!"

**GGGGGGGG**

Tristan had "moved in". His stuff was in his room, some clothes were put away and the bedding was all set up. He was a boy after all, they didn't really need anything major. Tristan had learned about simple living in military school and since then, that's how he lived.

"Hey man, you alright?" The British accent came through the room and Tristan got off of his bed.

"I'm good, you?"

"Fine, been here long?" Carter threw his stuff into his room, deciding to unpack later and went into Tristan's room. The two had been roommates from the beginning and were the best of friends.

"Just a few hours, made my bed." He laughed.

"My mum would be proud."

They both laughed, Carter's mum, Audrey, and dad, Austin, were Tristan's second parents by this point. He didn't think he could have made it through the past two years without them. Audrey was always on their backs about keeping their room clean and getting things set up immediately.

"Are they here? Your parents I mean?"

"I know who you mean, and no, they're staying home with Natalie."

"Why?"

"She's nervous. She starts our version of high school this week."

Tristan nodded, understanding the type of pressure she was facing—he had heard enough about it form everyone else. "Dinner?"

Carter nodded. "Sounds good. I'm starved!" The boys headed out for the campus pub, knowing they would meet the rest of their friends there eventually.

"I'll grab our usual table," Carter announced when they walked inside.

"I'll order," Tristan answered.

Carter walked over to the table to see they're friend Tim sitting there smiling, while two other drinks were left on the table. "Where are Addison and Jasper?"

Tim grinned and pointed. "They haven't left them alone yet."

Carter followed his friend's finger and saw their friends flirting with two beautiful girls, one brunette and one strawberry-blonde, neither of the girls looking too interested. "I should go save them, shouldn't I?" It was a role Carter usually took, he was a peacemaker like that. "Tristan's placing the order, look out for him." Though Tristan knew what table they always sat at, having Tim know he wasn't far behind was good.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The brunette rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed, while the blonde smiled.

"We were just telling your friends here that we were perfectly okay by ourselves," the blonde answered.

"Oh really? And what did my friends have to say in return?"

"We want them to join us," Addison told him.

"Do you ladies wish to join us?" He watched as the two exchanged looks before the brunette answered.

"Ella, you go, have fun, I'm just going to go back and unpack, I bet the bookcases my grandmother ordered for me are there, I want to put them together."

"Put them together Leigh?" Ella looked at her roommate. They had known each other six hours but Ella knew Leigh had no idea how to use tools.

"There are instructions and I have a tool kit. I'll figure it out. Have fun, you have my number if something goes awry." The brunette stood and looked at him (Carter). "Anything happens to her and you'll feel my wrath." She glared at him for a minute more before heading out of the pub.

"Scary girl," Carter commented.

"She's sweet, really, just untrusting."

Carter nodded. "So would you like to join us?"

"Could I have your names first?"

He laughed. "Sorry doll. I'm Carter, these blokes are Addison and Jasper." They nodded when Carter said their names. "Behind us," he nodded his head and she followed in the direction, "are Tristan and Tim. Will you join us _now_?"

She nodded.

"Wait, wait, wait, now she knows _our_ names but we don't know _hers_."

"Sorry about that, I've been doing that all day. I'm Ella." Pleasantries were exchanged and Ella followed the guys to their table, formally meeting the other two. They sat and joked for a few hours before Ella noticed the time. "Oh! I have to go. Leigh is probably worried."

"Leigh?" Tristan asked. Ella had been sitting with them for almost three hours, she was a lot of fun and not so bad to look at—though he could tell Carter wanted her.

"My roommate."

Tristan nodded. "You know each other from back home?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Where are you from?" He was the only American out of the group."

"North Carolina by way of Connecticut."

"Really? That's where Leigh is from. Hartford by any chance?"

He stared at her. "That's where my parents are, yes."

"Her grandparents are there, but I guess you two wouldn't know each other. I think she could sure use a familiar face. I think she misses home." Ella rambled on a bit. "She mentioned her mother, who took her out of society life, but was so sad about it, her eyes are just…"She realized she was thinking out loud and stopped. "Sorry, didn't mean to go on like that. I really should get going."

The guys nodded. "I'll walk you back," Carter volunteered.

"You don't have to do that."

"What are the odds you actually know your way around yet?" Ella blushed. "Exactly. See you guys later." He finished his beer and nodded at his friends, holding out his arm signaling for Ella to lead the way out of the pub.


	3. Mary

**Chapter 3: Mary**

"Do you ever leave the library?" Ella asked as Rory walked through their door.

"I'm here, aren't I?"

Ella groaned. "Okay Leigh, I'll rephrase, do you ever go anywhere outside of classes and the library?" She had noticed over the past five weeks that Leigh was either sleeping, eating, at class, or in the library. She rarely went to the pub, didn't seem to be trying to make any friends, and wasn't very talkative in general.

"No time. I'm here for school, not to socialize." Socializing is what got her in trouble at Yale, she didn't want a repeat of that.

"Not true. Socializing is just as important as studying."

Rory didn't want to have this argument. "I'm beat. I'm going to shower and head off to bed. You going out?"

She nodded. "I'm meeting Carter and his friends." Carter had been her lifesaver the first week when Ella had no idea where she was going—he would pop up at the most convenient times and after a while he caught on and always had coffee with him. They were practically dating.

"Have fun." Rory wished she could go out with Ella and Carter and his friends, Carter seemed like a nice enough guy who would have great friends, but she couldn't get herself to do it. Instead, she watched Ella leave, took a shower, turned on the British version of CSPAN and watched until she fell asleep on the couch.

**GGGGGGGG**

"Something's wrong with Leigh," Ella announced as she sat down with Carter and his friends for lunch a week later. The group had expanded, including three girls, Isabelle, Katie and Abby, and everyone was now looking at her.

"That's your roommate, right?" Abby asked.

"Yeah."

"Why doesn't she come out with us sometime?"

Ella shrugged. "She's a bookworm; reads and goes to class—oh and to the library. I've invited her along constantly. She won't go. I find her passed out of the couch most of the time."

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know, but it's something. She spoke with her grandmother last week and since then she's been walking around kinda zombie like."

"The one from Hartford?" Tristan asked.

She nodded.

"What's Leigh's last name?"

"Gilmore, why? Do you know her grandparents?"

Tristan couldn't believe it. Rory was here. His Mary was right here, under his nose, and he didn't even know it. How could he have gotten this far into the term without running into her? "Yeah, I've met them before, nice people."

"They sound like it, they're worried about her though."

"How do you know?" He hadn't spoken to her in years, five to be exact, and Tristan had no idea what was going on in her life—his parents didn't keep him up on Hartford gossip.

"I can hear their raised voices through the phone and most of the time after Leigh hangs up she starts crying. I can hear her through her bedroom door."

_Leigh? Would Rory really be calling herself Leigh? Why? Well, wasn't her name Lorelai Leigh? Why wouldn't she be using Rory? What happened to her?_ "I've got to go, see you guys later." Tristan got up abruptly, needing fresh air to think the situation through. _How is it possible that Rory Gilmore is at Oxford?_

**GGGGGGGGGG**

Defeated, Rory sat down in one of the two bookstores near campus in "her" chair. She was there any day she wasn't in the library and chose this seat because of its hidden location in the back, in a corner. Only the really old editions of classics were back here and most people weren't looking for them. Unfortunately, this day she wasn't as lucky. She had been deep into her book, _Pride and Prejudice_, when she heard something moving around her. Looking up, she gasped as silently as possible and stared over the top of her book. Apparently, all those weeks ago in London she hadn't been hallucinating, Tristan really was there.

And he didn't say hello? Why? He probably found out about what she did and didn't want to talk to her. Figures. Deciding to hide, Rory stayed quiet hoping he would leave soon—which he did.

**GGGGGGGGG**

Tristan had been walking around campus three days after Ella expressed her worry and he figured her roommate really was Rory, searching everywhere he could think for her. He couldn't find her anywhere. If he thought he could just wander into a bookstore or the library and find her, he was wrong. Rory was much more difficult to track down then that.

It happened so randomly he almost missed it but Tristan finally saw her. He was heading towards his final lecture of the day, walking slowly because he had no interest in going when he heard her voice. She was ordering coffee from a stand nearby, but he knew it was her. It had to be her. Looking over, knowing she wasn't watching, Tristan grinned—it was her. Rory Gilmore. His Mary was really on this campus and most likely Ella's roommate—his roommate's girlfriend's roommate. Perfect. Now he just had to figure out how to talk to her.

He headed to class, reluctant to let Rory out of his sight, but knowing that he had to. After that day however, Tristan realized he saw Rory almost everywhere, but had never looked for her so he'd never seen her. And so it began. Every day, he would watch her. The calculated movements, the haunted look in her eye, her wish to blend in with the scenery. She would finish classes and head to the library or to the bookstore, only stopping for coffee and food. She would do her homework, listen to music and he even heard her talking to her grandparents one afternoon. Still, he was afraid to approach her. Something was wrong, really wrong, but he didn't know how to help. She didn't trust him—she never had. And if she knew he had been following her she would be freaked.

Opportunity knocked a few days later when it was Ella's birthday and she told everyone that the mysterious Leigh had finally agreed to come out with everyone to celebrate the occasion. Tristan couldn't have been happier, of course then he noticed the date. Her birthday was only a week away and he had a feeling Ella knew nothing about it. All he could do was wait for tonight and see what she did in his presence.

Unfortunately, Ella's celebration turned out to be a party in his dorm room. Not that he minded, but it didn't really give him a lot of room to talk to Rory. She could easily get away from him. Tristan was standing with Carter, who was watching the door for his girlfriend and it would save him from watching the door himself, knowing Rory would walk in with Ella. Ella probably dragging her inside. Eventually, Ella walked through the door, looking rather agitated.

"Happy birthday babe." Carter kissed her gently.

"Thanks."

"Happy Birthday Ella." Tristan smiled at her.

"Thanks Tristan."

"What's wrong?"

"My stupid roommate! She promised me that she would come tonight and she would come with me, but her grandparents called and she started arguing with them, so she told me to go ahead. I think she picked the argument with them just so she wouldn't have to come."

"Is she really that much of a hermit?"

"Seems like it," Ella said sadly. "I do hope she shows up though."

"I'd love to meet her. It was the brunette the first night I met you, right?"

Ella nodded. "She's a sweet girl, really, she just doesn't trust anyone and won't tell me anything."

Carter worked on getting Ella's mind off of her roommate while Tristan tried to think of what could have happened to Rory. Surely if something had happened to her mother he would have found out, it not from his parents then from Paris who he knew Rory still spoke with. His worry ended a half hour later when she showed up looking nervous and uncomfortable. He wanted to go over to her, throw his arms around her, make her smile, but he couldn't. He would scare her. Besides, Ella got to her first—excited that she really did show up and immediately introducing her to everyone.

Tristan knew the exact moment that Rory saw him. He felt her eyes boring into him, as if she didn't believe he was there and both wanted him to be her imagination and real. He was about to move towards her when she said something to Ella and left the apartment. He was going to go after her, but he was stopped by someone _needing_ to speak to him. And so he lost another chance to speak with Rory Gilmore.

**GGGGGGGGGG**

"Grandma, what are you talking about?"

"Your mother is not happy."

"If it's about me then I'm not surprised."

"I had to tell her you were at Oxford."

"I told you that was okay. Did you give her my number?"

"She didn't want it."

"What?"

"I told her you wanted me to pass it along if she called asking for you, but she just said that if you really wanted to speak with her that you would have called her yourself. She couldn't believe that you would go abroad and not even tell her. She also asked me to tell you that she and Luke are engaged and planning their wedding."

Rory didn't know what to say.

"Rory? Are you still there?"

"Yes Grandma."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Grandma."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course Grandma. What else is going on at home?"

So Rory sat in silence as her grandmother went on and on about something at the D.A.R. and she thought about her mom and Luke finally getting married and knowing nothing about it. It was her last straw. "I'm sorry to interrupt Grandma, but I really have to get back to work."

"Oh, of course dear, I didn't mean to keep you from your studies. How are things out there?"

"They're good."

"Your roommate? Are you going out? Making friends?"

"Ella is great Grandma, and I am having a good time. I'm thinking of going to London this weekend."

"That should be fun! Don't forget to call for the car," Emily reminded her.

"I won't Grandma, promise. Could you get me Grandpa's cousin's phone number? Maybe I can see them around my birthday."

"I'm sure they would love to see you dear. I'll have it for you the next time we speak."

"Thanks Grandma."

"Your welcome dear."

They hung up the phone and Rory just sat there, shell-shocked. It was how Ella found her hours later, worried when Rory wouldn't answer her, so she called Carter who promised he would be right over and bring Tristan with him.

**GGGGGGGGGGGG**

"Hey, come over to Ella's with me?"

"Why?" Tristan knew Rory was there, but surprising her like that might not be a good idea.

"Her roommate is in a comatose state or something. I really didn't understand."

Tristan's ears perked up the minute her heard roommate. "Sure, I don't know what help I can be but I'll come along."

They reached the dorm rather quickly and Ella answered, obviously frazzled. "I don't know what happened but I came back from classes and she was just sitting there with tears running down her face. She won't tell me what was wrong; she won't answer me at all. I'm scared."

Carter smiled, hugging her. "Let's check this out." He walked over to Rory and stooped down in front of her. "Leigh? Leigh? Can you hear me? Are you okay?" He tried this approach, along with waving his hand in front of her face but she recognized nothing. "Tristan?" He looked at his friend to see if he had any ideas.

Tristan moved Carter out of the way, gently resting his hands on Rory's knees, looking into her sad eyes. "Leigh? Can you hear me?" He started with the name the others called her but knew that wasn't going to work. "Rory?" He said softly. "Rory? What's wrong? It's Tristan. I know it's been awhile, but you can talk to me, tell me what's wrong. Rory?" Still nothing. As a last resort, Tristan looked into her eyes, "Mary? What's going on?"

Carter and Ella were standing by watching. "I thought her name was Leigh?"

"I thought Tristan didn't know her."

They continued to watch as Rory unraveled into Tristan's arms.

"Tristan?" She whispered, not recognizing him.

"Yeah, it's me Mary." He moved a hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. "What's going on here?"

"My mom...she…she…Luke…engaged…married…so angry…" She could barely get the words out now that the tears were more intense, knowing she finally had someone to lean on.

"Oh Mary…" Tristan stood up, taking note of the fear in her eyes, but moved to sit next to her and pull her into his lap. She continued to cry on his shoulder until she was fast asleep against him.

"What is going on?" Ella looked at the pair on her couch. "I don't understand."

"It's a long story Ella. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, I know Mary…Rory…Leigh, whatever name she goes by, before, back home."

"Hartford."

"Yes. Hartford." Tristan stood with Rory in his arms, moving towards her bed. He placed her on the bed, taking her arms from around his neck. She cried at the loss of touch. He laid down on the bed with her. "Oh Mary…what happened to you?" He held her tight, somewhat startled when she curled her body next to his before falling into a fitful sleep. All he knew was that tomorrow would require explanations.


	4. Lean On Me

**Chapter 4: Lean On Me **

Rory woke up the next morning, somewhat unsure of where she was and what was going on. The warm feeling that had enclosed her throughout the night was gone and when she opened her eyes Rory saw an imprint but no person. Closing her eyes Rory tried to remember who could possibly be the one to occupy that space. She didn't know many people at this school, and she doubted Ella left that kind of print on her sheets.

"Good morning Mary, I brought you coffee." Tristan entered her room, surprised to see her awake, even if she was looking blankly at the ceiling.

"Bible Boy?" She turned her head slightly, thinking that she had to be imagining his voice. It wouldn't be the first time.

"I prefer Tristan actually."

"And I've always preferred Rory."

"Point." He held out a cup of coffee. "Drink up, you'll feel better."

Rory sat back against the wall and sipped the coffee, alternating between inhaling the amazing scent and staring at a part of her past she never thought she would see again. "Where did you come from?" Rory asked.

"Well, 21 years ago, my parents were…"

"Stop! I don't need to hear that! And that's not what I meant!" Her voice may have been harsh, but she was smiling.

"Really?" Tristan smirked.

She had missed that smirk. "What are you doing at Oxford?"

"I go here."

"What?"

"I'm in my third year here."

"Oh."

"What are you doing here? Study abroad?"

"Not exactly."

"What then?"

She looked down, not really wanting to talk about her situation. "How was military school?"

He knew she was evading his question and decided just this once to let it slide. He would find out anyway. "For the six months I was there it was fine. Really whipped me into shape."

"I'm sure your parents were happy about that."

He nodded. "They were."

"You didn't come back to Chilton though." Rory stated the obvious.

"I stayed down there for the rest of high school, it was easier."

She nodded, Rory knew all about making things easier by staying away. That was what she was doing now after all. "Did you like it?"

"It was school," Tristan answered with a shrug.

"Do you like Oxford better?"

"I've made some good friends here."

"That's nice. Are you planning on coming back to America?"

"I'm sure my parents will force it upon me."

"But you don't want to?"

"Not particularly."

"Where's Ella?"

"With Carter at my place."

"You and Carter…"

"Roommates since our first year." Rory nodded. "Ella's talked a lot about you, we've all been dying to meet you. Imagine my surprise when I found our the lovely _Leigh_ was none other then Mary herself."

She cringed at the nickname, a reminder of how much of a Mary she _wasn't_ and how she earned the Magdalene now necessary. "I wanted a fresh start."

"So you changed your name?"

"Leigh is my name," she argued.

"You're Rory, always have been and always will be no matter where you go. Just as I will always be Tristan DuGrey—you can't get away from your roots. No matter how hard you try."

She only nodded. "Leigh took some time to get used to."

"Tell them to call you Rory."

"Maybe."

"Mary, either you tell them to call you Rory or I'll tell them to call you Mary."

"Okay! Rory it is! I'm surprised that you even know my name." She smiled at him.

Tristan noticed that though she made a valiant effort to honestly smile, it was forced. He missed the easy smiles that lit up her eyes, eyes that were now dark and sad. Eyes that reminded him of how he looked while growing up. Now more than ever Tristan wanted to find out what happened to her and help in any way that he could. "I've always known your name."

"And you've always chosen to ignore it."

"Exactly." He tapped her nose. "How about breakfast?"

"What?"

"Come on, let's go to breakfast."

"Just us?"

"Why Mary, don't you want to share?"

She blushed and looked up at him. "I don't want to be around people." Rory knew it would be pointless to try and get Tristan to leave.

Tristan watched her. "I'll be in the common room, get dressed."

Ten minutes later she left her room, heading for the bathroom to brush her teeth before standing in front of him.

"You ready?" He asked once she was standing in front of him.

Rory nodded. "Let's go."

"Don't be so eager there Mary."

She shook her head. He hadn't changed—Rory liked that—but sadly, she had.

"What happened last night?" Tristan asked her softly as they walked along, surprisingly holding hands, something that Rory actually initiated. "Ella said you were talking to your grandmother; by the time Carter and I were there you were barely coherent."

Rory looked down for a minute, embarrassed. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry, it happens to everyone. I won't push you," Tristan said when he noticed her reluctance to talk. "I'll listen anytime you need me though. I'll be here for you."

Rory nodded her head, pulling out her now ringing mobile. "Hello?"

"Hello Miss Leigh."

It was Toby. "It's Rory, Toby."

"Excuse me?"

"Leigh is my middle name, please call me Rory." She knew that man on the other line was confused and the one standing next to her was curious.

"Okay Miss Rory, do you still want to come to London this weekend?"

"I've been looking forward to it."

"I'll be there Friday afternoon at 3pm, is that acceptable?"

"That'd be great." She'd be in London by 6pm and then in her bookstore by 9pm.

"See you then."

"Bye Toby." Rory hung up the phone.

"Boyfriend?"

Rory laughed. "Driver my grandmother hired. She doesn't want me taking public transportation. She let me fly commercial, but I can't take a train or a bus." Rory shook her head at Emily's strange logic.

Tristan laughed. "Commercial meant first class though."

"True. So this is it?" She looked at the small restaurant Tristan had stopped in front of.

"Yup. Come on, I'm starved!" He pulled her into the restaurant and smiled at the waitress as he picked a table.

"You come here a lot?"

"Just about every morning."

"No morning classes?" Rory asked and then jumped up. "Oh no! Classes! I have classes!"

"Don't worry about it, sit down, come on Rory, sit. Mary!" He pulled her back into her seat and placed a comforting hand on hers. "Don't worry about it, you'll survive missing one class."

Rory decided she was better off not arguing; instead she picked up the menu.

"Can I help you?" The waitress came over with a smile and winked at Tristan before looking back at them.

"Yes, chocolate chip pancakes, two eggs sunny-side up, and coffee, lots and lots of coffee, you would probably save yourself some work by placing a pot on the table. Thanks." Rory closed her menu and smiled. "Oh, a glass of orange juice too."

"Waffles, scrambled eggs, orange juice and coffee. Thanks Vanessa."

"You know her?" Rory asked as the waitress walked away.

"We have a few classes together. She also lived across the hall from me freshman year."

Rory nodded. "You like living out here?"

"It's different."

"You're never home, are you?"

"Keeping track Mary?"

"Paris does. I've met your grandfather, he's wonderful." Rory thought back to the D.A.R. event her grandparents forced her to attend.

"The only one in my family I can stand. I haven't seen him in a while. When did you see him?"

"The beginning of the summer."

The stared at each other in a silence that was both awkward and comfortable until the food and pot of coffee arrived, both concentrating on their meals. Tristan looked at Rory apologetically when his phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. "DuGrey."

"Tristan, how are you?"

"Fine father, how are you?" He rolled his eyes. Every few weeks his parents called to bother him about life in general and try and find a reason for him to return back home before he graduated.

"Just fine son. I'm calling on behalf of your mother. She has an event out here that she needs you to attend, it would really just be over night. She misses you son."

Tristan paused, letting the information seep in before he sighed. "I'm sorry father, I'm extremely busy with my studies. I really can't steal away to America for a weekend event mother is planning."

"You aren't thinking about your mother."

"That's okay, neither of you thought about me for years. Now you know how it feels."

"Tristan Janlan DuGrey."

"Don't even try it Dad. You're not paying for school, you can't hold that over my head. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm eating breakfast with a friend and you're interrupting us. I'm being extremely rude. Goodbye." He hung up the phone, slightly annoyed and looked up at Rory. 'They never change." Tristan watched her for a minute, forgetting the few words that she said last night, thinking only of what his father said. "Are you and your mom still close? How are you dealing with being so far away from her?"

Rory looked away from Tristan and knew she had to get up. "I'll be right back." She slid out of her side of the booth and headed for the washroom. Once inside, she locked the door and leaned against it, trying to get herself together. Tristan didn't mean anything by what he said; he had no idea what was going on with her life. He didn't understand what was happening to her. At all. She had been doing okay; everything had been all right until the conversation with her grandmother last night. That's when she fell apart. Taking a deep breath, Rory wiped the tears from her eyes, washed her face and went back to the table where she knew a shocked and confused Tristan was waiting.

"Are you okay?" He saw the red in her eyes, telling him that she had in fact been crying, and his worry increased.

Slowly Rory nodded. "I'm not," she said contradicting her movement, "but I think I will be. Are you busy this weekend?"

"Why Miss Gilmore, are you propositioning me?"

"My family has an apartment in London, it's huge, and I have free use of it for as long as I'm here. I'm headed there this weekend, would you like to come along?"

Tristan wasn't stupid, he knew what she was saying. Rory wanted him to come along this weekend so they could talk somewhere that she felt safe. He was relieved that she trusted him after their crazy Chilton history and lack of contact over the years. But he knew that right now Rory needed a friend—and he could be that friend. Not that he didn't feel more towards the only girl that he had ever loved, but he couldn't push her; she looked ready to break. Tristan felt that a declaration of his feelings and intentions would not go over well.

"That sounds like a lot of fun. I'll have to bring you to some of my favorite spots." He smiled at her, thinking of all the places they could go together. "Though I don't think we could do everything in one weekend."

"Probably not, but there will be other weekends. There are some places I want to take you to as well." Rory returned his smile, wondering why she felt so comfortable with him all of the sudden, so much time had passed, but she didn't want to think about it. In the back of her mind however, Rory was thinking that Tristan might be the only one who could really help her.


	5. London Calling

**Chapter 5: London Calling**

"Why didn't you say anything?" Ella asked her for the fifth time. She was sitting on Rory's bed while she packed.

"It didn't matter."

"And now it does?" Ella didn't believe that. "Why didn't it matter before?"

"I didn't know Tristan was here before."

"He's Carter's roommate Rory, we've spoken about him before."

"That doesn't mean he's the only Tristan in the world Ella."

"How do you know him?"

"We went to school together for a year or so."

"College?"

"High school. Before he went to military school."

"Oh. Right. Carter mentioned something about military school. Why did he go?"

"Ask him. It's not my place." Rory looked down at her watch. "Shit! I'm going to be late. I'll see you Monday morning." She zipped up her bag and left. Rory opened the door and jumped back, surprised to see Tristan there.

"Afternoon Mary." Tristan smirked at her.

"Hi." She smiled at him, not all that bothered by the nickname, it was strangely familiar.

"Ready?"

She nodded. "Let's go." Tristan reached for the bag in her hand. "You don't have to do that. I can carry the bag."

"Your grandmother would never forgive me." He took the bag from her and smiled. "Lead the way dear."

Rory turned towards the door and headed for the parking lot she knew Toby would be waiting by. "Hi Toby."

"Miss Rory, how has school been going?" Toby smiled at her.

"Just fine thanks. Toby, this is my friend Tristan DuGrey, he's going to hang out with me this weekend."

"It's nice to meet you Mister Tristan." Toby had a habit of using first names instead of one's surname, it was rather different and much appreciated by Rory. "Let me take those bags from you." He reached for the bags from Tristan's hands before he could respond, placing them in the trunk.

"After you." Tristan held his arm out, pushing Rory to get into first. She smiled and slid into the car, Tristan getting in next. "The rest of your week was okay?" He didn't know what to say to her.

"It was fine, thanks. How was yours?" They hadn't seen each other since that morning she invited him to London. Carter had been over to hang out with Ella but Tristan had been scarce.

"Fine thanks. Is everything okay with Ella?"

"What do you mean?"

"She was a little upset this week."

"She's not very happy with me."

"Really?" That didn't surprise Tristan, though Ella didn't look like one to hold a grudge.

"She figured since you and I were friends and I seemed to like Carter, I would now start attending all of her outings."

"Outings?"

"You all go to lunch and dinner and for a drink at the end of the night, that kind of stuff. She's been on my back about it all semester, but now that she knows that I know you, it's gotten worse."

"Why don't you want to come out with all of us? I know that you like your books and solitude Mary, but college is about socializing. Or is it that since you've finally gotten into Harvard you don't feel the need to socialize?"

"I didn't actually go to Harvard?"

"What? Did they actually turn you down?"

"No, but they turned down Paris." Rory laughed.

"I heard something about that, she went ballistic, didn't she?"

Rory nodded. "She had a breakdown on CSPAN, somehow blaming the whole thing on her having sex. I'm surprised you didn't see it." Despite the circumstance, Rory smiled at the memory of happier times.

"If you got in why did you turn them down? Harvard was your dream."

Rory smiled, somewhat impressed that after all these years he remembered. "My list pointed to Yale so that's where I went."

"Yale? Really? What list?" Tristan looked at her like she was crazy. "You really let a _list_ decide your life?"

Rory laughed. "My pro/con list. I make them for all my important decisions. I am legacy at Yale after all."

"Did your grandparents force you?"

"In the end, no. They would have forgiven me if I went to Harvard." Tristan raised a brow in her direction; apparently he didn't believe her. "Okay, you're right." Rory laughed. "They probably would have never let me live down going to their rival school."

"So how is Yale treating you?"

Rory sighed. "It was okay."

"Was? Just okay? Coming from the girl that _loves_ school?" There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I think that Yale did not live up to your expectations."

"A lot happened this year."

He watched her for a moment, obviously Yale had something to do with her current predicament. "You got in a fight with your mom over it?"

"It was only part of it," she admitted. Rory really didn't want to talk about Yale and her mom and Logan and all of those problems she left behind. "Can we leave that subject alone right now?"

"Sure, I didn't mean to pry…well, actually, I did mean to pry, but I didn't mean to push."

She laughed. "Well there's honesty for you."

"I've changed since we last saw each other."

"It seems that way."

"How would you know?"

"Ella does talk about Carter's roommate. He sounds nothing like the Tristan that I knew in high school. You stopped pulling pranks."

"Military school can do that to a person."

They both laughed. "It seems you survived, finished up in one piece and everything."

"I survived six months and my parents were happy enough to take me out, but I refused to return to Hartford, under their annoyingly close eye that was waiting for me to mess up again. I stayed in North Carolina."

"I'm glad everything worked out in the end. Though I will say you left at an inopportune time. I had to kiss Paris!" She scowled at him.

"What? I wish I could have seen that!"

"You missed another chance at spring break freshman year."

"What? Is there something you need to tell me Mary?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Paris thought kissing me would get us free drinks. She was wrong." She smiled at the memory.

"Sounds like Paris for you. How is she?"

"As neurotic as ever. We've been roommates the past two years."

"How did she take you leaving? How can you even stand living with her?"

"She grows on you." Rory shrugged. "Besides, once she decides to like you, she's a great protector. Scares all the mean, scary boys away."

"I could see her in that role. Does she mind that you're gone?"

"Probably, but it's not like I gave her much choice. Oxford or not, I wouldn't have been in Yale this semester." _Or any time in the near future_.

_I wonder what in the world happened back there, Mary not returning to school? Yale? Dropping out? She would never do something like this. I bet this is why she and her mother are fighting. I just wonder what, or who, the catalyst was. If it's a who, that person should definitely be hurt or killed or something! Who could change her this much? She definitely isn't the person I left behind or ever pictured her being_.

"Tristan? Tristan! DuGrey!"

"What?" Tristan looked at her, embarrassed that he hadn't been listening to her and lost in his own thoughts.

"What were you thinking about? You were scowling."

"Sorry. Don't worry about it."

Rory had a feeling she knew what he was thinking about and wondered when she had found a bodyguard in Tristan. They had never been friends; their last meeting hadn't been all that great either. She hadn't been very nice to him. "I'm sorry about how I treated you back then. I wasn't very nice."

"It's okay, I wasn't very nice to you either. You didn't deserve it."

"You didn't deserve my treatment either. You just challenged me in a way I never expected and wasn't prepared for."

"Are you ready for it now?"

She studied him for a moment. "I'm not sure. I'm pretty broken." It was the first time she had really admitted it to anyone. Rory knew how messed up she actually was. She was unsure how to fix it, but it was true nonetheless.

"Broken? You get more intriguing with every word that you say." Tristan was even more curious about what had happened to her.

"I don't doubt that, believe it or not."

"I'm going to figure you out Mary. I might not have had the patience when we were in high school, but nothing is going to stop me from it now. I have all the time, patience and energy in the world."

"Military school really taught you something," Rory said with a small laugh. It unnerved her how serious he was about being her friend and getting to the bottom of her problems. She was unsure why he cared though. What interest could he have in her life? Especially after all this time.

"More than you could ever know."

"Why do you even care? It's been years since we've seen each other, and we never got along back then."

"Believe it or not Mary, I've always had a thing for you. I was never lying about that. I may have shown you that in a childish manner then but I'm not going to now."

She nodded her head, still slightly unsure of what Tristan really wanted from her. Luckily, or maybe not she wasn't sure, the car stopped and Toby opened the door. "Here we are Miss Rory, Mister Tristan."

Rory smiled as she accepted Toby's hand in assistance from the car, something she had gotten used to while dating Logan. Quickly she walked towards the front door, a smile on her face. "Nigel!"

"Miss Leigh! How are you? What a nice surprise!"

"Actually Nigel, call me Rory. It's what everyone back home calls me. It's nice to see you as well. How are things going her? Anyone new come into the building? How is Mr. James? Still staying out all hours? Figured out what he's been doing?" Rory smiled at her friend. Some days she spent time just sitting with Nigel or Edward, learning about the many different characters that lived in the building. It reminded her of the crazy ways of Stars Hollow, it made her both homesick and relaxed out of familiarity.

Nigel laughed. "We have not figured out what Mr. James is doing! He gets back even later now."

"One day we'll figure it out, maybe I'll go use my feminine wiles to figure him out."

"I'd like to see that!" Nigel laughed at her. "Who do you have with you?" He just noticed Tristan.

"A friend from school, I actually know him from America. Nigel, this is Tristan DuGrey. Tristan, this is the daytime doorman, Nigel."

"It's nice to meet you." Tristan shook his hand. He was finding Rory to be more and more interesting by the minute.

"You as well Mr. DuGrey. Will you be staying with Miss Rory?" Nigel thought it was weird that she introduced herself by a different name, but went along with it anyway. When Tristan nodded he continued. "I'm glad. It's an awfully big apartment for just one person. I worried about her there by herself for all those weeks."

"Well, no need to worry. I'll make sure that nothing happens."

"Good to know. I'm sure you're both tired from school and the ride down here. Go upstairs, get settled and relaxed."

"Thanks Nigel." Rory turned towards Toby. "We can take these from here. I insist." She saw that he was going to argue with her. "I'll call you if we're going anywhere far."

"Or when it gets too late," Toby insisted. "I don't care that you're not alone anymore, your grandparents wouldn't want you taking a cab either way."

Rory nodded. "I'm not going to argue."

"You've learned." He smiled at her. "Good night Miss Rory, Mister Tristan." He tipped his hat and was on his way. A moment later the elevator arrived and the pair said goodbye to Nigel as they got on and Rory pressed the button for the top floor.

"Interesting people you know."

"My friends," she said with a shrug.

"How big is this apartment?"

"The whole floor actually."

"Really?"

"It was my great-grandmother's." The doors opened and Rory walked towards the door, walking in with a smile, it was always nice to come home, even if it wasn't her real home.

"It's great." Tristan admired the rooms he could see.

"I think so."

"Are you hungry?"

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled. "We have to get coffee on the way though."

"Of course." Tristan remembered her coffee addiction well, if not from the other morning when she'd gone through three pots during breakfast.

Dinner was surprisingly pleasant. Rory had moved the conversation away from her and had Tristan talk about life after Chilton. His six months in military school followed by the best prep school in North Carolina and his relief to be away from his parents. Being away from their watchful and expectant eyes and proving them wrong about him turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to him.

"How did you end up at Oxford?" Rory questioned as her second cup of coffee arrived.

"My parents wanted me at some Ivy League school—Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Stanford…any Ivy League would have done really, but I refused. The only way I could get away with not going to school in America was to attend Oxford or Cambridge; so here I am."

"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?" She smiled at him. This was not the Tristan she knew at Chilton. Besides the overall change in his attitude, he was genuinely happy. It was refreshing to see, though disturbing to realize she was no longer like that.

"I am." Tristan nodded with a nostalgic kind of smile on his face. "It's been an adventure and I've met some great people along the way."

"Are you coming back to The States once you graduate?"

"It'll be expected of me," he told her sadly.

"You don't want to?"

"I don't know what I want. There was never anything pulling me back there, there was never a reason to return."

"Has that changed recently?" Rory heard something in his voice that made her question him.

"It's beginning to," he told her softly. "Come on, let's walk around for a while." The check had already been taken care of and once they were standing Tristan led Rory outside with a hand on the small of her back. When they had walked down the block and turned the corner towards a somewhat quieter part of town Tristan took Rory's hand in his and brought her closer to his side. He had a strange feeling that the comfort and reassurance he offered was something she desperately needed without even knowing that she needed it.

They had been walking around for almost two hours before Rory requested they return to the apartment. It was almost one o'clock in the morning and while she wasn't tired, she didn't want to be out anymore.

"Are you going to bed?" Tristan questioned once their coats were put away.

"I guess so, it is late."

"It is," he agreed.

"I guess I'll see you in the morning. We'll have to do something fun together."

"That would be nice." He smiled at her, hoping his presence was somewhat reassuring. "Sweet dreams Mary."

Rory smiled as she paused when his lips touched her forehead. "Good night Bible Boy. Sweet dreams." She turned slowly and walked into her room, leaving Tristan to find his way back to the room he had claimed earlier.


	6. Human Contact

**Chapter 6**: **Human Contact **

Rory turned over and looked at the clock yet again: 2:30AM. It had been two minutes since she had last looked. _Great, another night of insomnia. Just what I need._ Deciding that maybe walking around would help, Rory got up and headed for the living room. She would grab a book or turn on the television or something like that. When the television didn't help and the book wasn't making her tired, Rory groaned as she closed her eyes. This was getting ridiculous.

"Are you okay?"

Rory jumped when she heard Tristan's voice. "Oh my god, you scared me!"

"Sorry." That hadn't been his goal. "Are you okay?"

"I've recently developed insomnia."

"Really? How long?" He stayed on the other side of the living room still watching her.

"The past couple of months. It's just starting to get annoying though."

"I could see how that would be bothersome."

"I usually work through it and end up with a few hours sleep, but I can't seem to tonight."

"You've got a lot on your mind." It wasn't a question.

Rory nodded. "I do."

"It may help you to talk about it."

"It may."

"I'm a good listener."

"Thanks."

"You really can talk to me, I'm not the same person you knew four years ago."

"I know that." Rory gave him a weak smile. "I just don't know where to begin."

"The beginning is always a good spot," Tristan teased her; taking a seat on the couch kitty-corner from the chair she had settled into.

Rory let out a strained laugh and stared at him for a few minutes. "It's just all so confusing. I don't even know how it happened, _what_ happened, most of the time. It's almost like I'm having an out of body experience."

"I can relate," Tristan said with a comforting smile. He wanted to remind her that he was a screw-up, a first rate screw up at that, and he wouldn't be judging her.

"It started with Dean…"

"Bagboy? I thought you two were broken up."

"Well now we are, and we were when this began too."

"Sorry, continue…" He knew that he should just listen and ask the myriad of questions later.

"He got married right after high school. We had broken up over Jess, Luke's nephew, and Dean married the first girl he dated after we broke up—Lindsay. Saying it was a shock was putting it nicely." Rory recalled her feelings and shook her head. She should have known then things would never work out well. "So I went off to Yale, did the college thing, came home to find that Dean was in an unhappy marriage, wanted a divorce and could offer me the comfort I didn't even know I was looking for." Rory took a deep breath and stared at her fidgeting hands. "We ended up sleeping together. I lost my virginity to him—to my married ex-boyfriend. And to make matters worse my mother found out as we were trying to straighten our clothes, it wasn't pretty."

Tristan didn't know what to say so he was silent and waited for the rest of the story. He did wish Rory would look at him though.

"My grandmother was having problems with my grandfather and wanted to get away; she invited me on a trip through Europe and I accepted. I needed to get away; away from Dean, away from my mother who was judging me, away from it all. Over the summer I realized what an awful thing I'd done. I wrote Dean a letter that my mother passed along to him—telling him that it was wrong and couldn't continue, unfortunately Lindsay found it."

Tristan hissed. "That had to hurt," he said softly.

"It wasn't good. I was officially the town tramp—the home-wrecker. A total change from the town princess I had been. Dean and Lindsay really started having problems then and while they were separated he and I were dating. It was hard though. I was so busy with school and my grandparents were always including me into their society events—culminating with the male Yale auction party."

"The what?" He couldn't keep quiet.

Rory looked over at him and smiled. "My grandparents gathered their Yale alumni friends that had male grandchildren or children my age and invited them to a party. They were going to auction me off to the highest bidder. A bunch of the guys formed a 'sub-party' and invited me. I knew one of them from the paper—Logan. I was supposed to meet Dean around nine but I was with the guys and we had been drinking to forget the awful event when I realized it was 9:15."

"I'm sure Bagboy didn't like that."

"Not really. He broke up with me; in the middle of my grandparent's driveway, in front of all these boys from Yale, he broke up with me. The guys took care of me though, got me good and drunk and then brought me home in a limo. Logan was then dubbed by my mother as Limo Boy."

"Nice to know I'm not the only one Lorelai nicknames," Tristan said with a smirk.

"The only one that wasn't nicknamed from the beginning was Dean. Mom's dislike for Logan grew from the moment he dropped me off in a limo, completely drunk, and grew as Logan and I became closer. Our relationship culminated at my grandparent's vowel renewal. My mom and Luke, who were dating at the time, were fighting because my father showed up and Logan and I were in one of the rooms making out, we were all over each other. My mom was looking for me to take a family picture and walked in, followed by Luke and then my father. Strike two for Logan."

"This doesn't sound like a good record."

"Oh, it's not," Rory assured him. "I guess I forgot to put out there that Logan's last name is Huntzberger."

"Geez Mary, you don't start small, do you?"

She smiled slightly. "If you're going to get involved, you might as well do it all the way. Anyway, Logan doesn't do commitment, it's a well-known fact, but I wanted Logan. I figured since things ended so badly with Dean that it was better NOT to have strings and told him that I would be okay with an arrangement between us—nothing serious. Yeah right," her voice was laced with sarcasm, "that feeling lasted until I saw him on the street with another girl. I was with my mom and she saw my face, another strike against Logan. Sometime after that I told Logan I wasn't the no-strings kind of girl and he decided that he wanted to commit to me. So we began dating—officially and monogamously. It was all okay until I met his parents."

"The biggest snobs in all of Hartford."

"I learned that," Rory said sadly. "They didn't approve, I wasn't good enough for Logan. I wanted to have a _career_." She spit the word out still hearing Shira's voice in her head. "Logan told me to blow it off, which I tried doing because I knew he didn't think like his family, but it was sometime after that that Mitchum cornered me. He offered me an internship, basically shadowing him for a period of time, at one of his newly acquired newspapers. It took it, not heeding Logan's warning that his father always had something up his sleeve."

"This can't end well," Tristan said obviously upset.

"If I only knew then what you realized off the bat," Rory said quietly. "I thought things were going well, everyone liked me, I loved being there, I felt at home."

"But?" He was afraid to hear the ending of this story even though he knew it would explain her appearance at Oxford.

"On the last day Mitchum told me that he had a gut feeling about people—he knew when they had it and when they didn't—I didn't have it. He told me that flat out. It was awful. I met Logan at his sister's engagement party, being held on a yacht. I convinced him to 'go to the sea' with me and steal one of the other yachts. It took a little convincing, but Logan Huntzberger cannot turn down a challenge like that. It was fine until we were pulled over and arrested. Charged with grand theft boating. I had to call my mother; she was at my grandparents waiting for me to show up for Friday night dinner. It was awful."

"Wow. Mary was arrested."

"I was sentenced to 300 hours of community service while Logan got nothing and spent the summer traveling with Colin and Finn."

"Unbelievable." Tristan was disgusted.

"I haven't even told you the worst of it." Rory shook her head at the memory not even noticing the tears running down her face. "I got into a horrible argument with my mom, horrible. I moved into my grandparent's pool house. It was the beginning of the end."

"You moved out of your mother's?" They had the tightest bond Tristan had ever seen between a mother and child, he had always been jealous of it. Nothing like their bond existed in Hartford.

"I did," she confirmed sadly. "I moved out, I dropped out of Yale, I started doing nothing and then began my community service hours. The faster I finished them the happier I would be. My grandparents finally got sick of me doing nothing and my grandmother handed over an application for the D.A.R. And that as they say, when I came to my senses. It was my big dose of reality and finally made me realize what had happened."

"What was that?"

"My life was a mess." Rory threw her hands up in the air. "I wasn't talking to my best friend and had no idea how to fix the situation. I was living with my grandparents who were getting more and more stifling as time went by. I had stopped my education, had discarded my life long dream, and was completely lost. That's when I convinced my grandfather to help me get into Oxford last minute. I figured going back to school AND going to school so far away would be good for me. Maybe give me a chance to find the old me—if she even exists anymore."

"She exists."

"How do you know that? How are you so sure? I've changed so much Tristan! _I _don't even recognize myself anymore!"

Tristan couldn't stand to see her tears any longer without doing anything so he stood up and moved until he was in front of her. Gently he pulled her up to take her place on the chair and pull her into his lap. Rory was obviously craving the human contact, the comforting voice that neither her grandparents nor her mother had offered her. They had been accusing and controlling but not comforting, not soft, not accepting. Tristan knew what that felt like—it sucked. It was his childhood. No one deserved that.

"What happened with your mom?" He asked her softly, knowing that she needed to get it all out before she could even begin to heal.

"I haven't heard from her since she saw me moving into the pool house. We haven't had any contact. I came out here without saying anything to her. I figured she didn't care, she'd been doing a good job of ignoring me and all. I saw her once because she drove by me when I was completing some of my community service hours."

"It wasn't good?"

Rory shook her head. "It was far from good."

"Something happened recently. Something that set you off the other night."

"I was talking to my grandmother. She said that my mother called to speak with me—my grandmother finally told her that I was here. Grandma said that Mom was eerily calm. Mom just asked Grandma to tell me that she and Luke were engaged and planning their wedding. When Grandma offered my phone number, telling mom that I had left instructions to pass it along if she called, Mom told her that she didn't want it. She basically said she didn't care."

"Did she say that though?"

"I don't know, I didn't hear the conversation, but I wouldn't be surprised. She's so angry, so disappointed."

"You can't really blame her there."

"I know. I'm disappointed, I'm angry, but I thought she would always be there for me. I thought she would support me. I know that dropping out of Yale wasn't what she wanted for me, but sometimes taking time off is necessary. This was my life crisis, I needed time to adjust. I deserve time to adjust!"

"You do, no arguments here. You're going through the equivalent of Bowman's safe for me."

"Really?" Rory couldn't imagine someone going through something like this at such a young age.

"Really. Just try and picture a lifetime of the attitude from your mom and your grandparents instead of just a few months. Then it really becomes clear."

"Oh wow. Tristan, I'm so sorry. I never realized…"

"No one would understand unless they've been through it. I'm sorry you had to find out first hand what it's like Rory. Really. I would never wish it upon anyone."

"Thank you."

"Are you going to call your mom?"

"What?"

"Are you going to call her?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. She obviously doesn't want to speak to me."

"It sounds like you don't want to speak to her."

"Well maybe I don't really."

"You need some time."

"The more time I take the worse it becomes."

"That may be true, but it may not be. Maybe you need to start slowly."

"What do you mean?"

"Keep a diary to send her, or just write her letters. Maybe the phone or a visit would be too much. You're going to be 21 next week Mary…"

"Please don't remind me!"

"What?"

"I just don't feel like celebrating this year."

"Nonsense, we'll celebrate! Especially when Ella and Carter find out it's your birthday." Rory shrugged, not really caring and Tristan knew it was time to change the subject. "How's the insomnia?" He looked down at her with a small smile, the tears had slowed down, but her eyes were still puffy and blood shot.

Rory shrugged. "It's okay."

"Come on, let's get some sleep."

Rory figured he would put her in bed and go to his own room, but he didn't. Tristan carried her into her room, laid her down on the bed and got in next to her. He said nothing, knowing that she still craved the comfort he offered even if she hadn't realized it herself, so he stayed with her. Tristan knew he had done the right thing when Rory turned into his arms and cuddled into him. He wrapped his arms around her, hoping that whatever he could offer would be enough to help her find herself again.


	7. A Little Fall Of Rain

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry it took so long, truly. I've been busy writing and dealing with college crap. I hope you enjoy this chapter however! Let me know…

**GGGG**

**Chapter 7: A Little Fall Of Rain**

Rory woke up Saturday morning and snuggled closer to the warmth surrounding her. She thought very little about it until she felt something squeeze her. Taking a moment to gather her hazy morning thoughts, Rory remembered waking up last night and telling Tristan _everything_ that had happened in the past year and a half. What was even stranger then spilling her guts to the bane of the 16-year-old existence, was that she didn't care. At this point Rory knew that she had nothing to loose. She had lost everything important in the blink of an eye, losing a friend that she never really had (or so she thought) could be something to easily recover from. The twisted thoughts relaxed her tense muscles and Rory allowed herself to fall back asleep.

Tristan registered the weight on his body skeptically, wondering how drunk he had been to go home with some girl he met at school. Fortunately, his senses started working and he inhaled the unique scent that was Rory Gilmore. It may have been five years since he'd seen her last, but she was not something he could easily forget. Remembering the brutal honesty she gave him last night, Tristan wondered how she would react this morning. He had just managed to fall back asleep when she moved _closer_ to him. Taking this as a good sign, he tightened his arms around her; wanting her to know she wasn't alone. He could only imagine how many mornings she had woken up and felt completely alone, completely lost. A frown crossed his features when he felt her tense in his arms and he wondered if she was regretting bringing him with her this weekend. When Rory once again relaxed against him Tristan felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders; he relaxed even more when her breathing evened out, signaling her return to dreamland where he soon joined her.

It was sometime later when Rory finally woke up, aware that her source of warmth throughout the night was no longer there. For the first time since the reality of her situation set in Rory didn't feel alone. There was someone to talk to that wasn't going to judge or make excuses. There was someone who was going to listen to her, accept her for who she was, who had no preconceived notions of who she was or who she needed to be. Her grandparents wanted her to be everything that her mother hadn't been, her mother wanted her to be everything she hadn't been—excluding a lady of society—and Logan wanted her someone who could ignore those things which she didn't like. Tristan though, Tristan was different. He accepted her and took her with all of her flaws. If he thought badly of her last night she would have known, right? The thoughts tumbled around her head and Rory began to worry about why he wasn't in bed with her still.

Deciding to start her day, Rory pushed herself out of bed and found her robe thoughtfully laid out at the end of the bed. With a smile she slipped it on and headed for the living room—maybe Tristan wasn't regretting anything after all. When she saw him sitting at the table reading the _Financial Times_ Rory let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Without saying a word to him she moved towards the coffeemaker to make sure her day started off properly. Imagine her surprise when she walked by him to have him stop her with a hand on her wrist and place a cup of warm coffee in her hand. Looking down at the mug and then him Rory shrugged and took a sip of the wonderful brew. "Thank you."

Tristan nodded and continued reading the paper. Not caring about his lack of morning conversation Rory finished that mug and took both hers and his back to the pot for a refill before making herself breakfast. Sitting down at the table, Rory picked up _The Guardian_, her favorite of the English newspapers, and started reading about world events. It was an interesting feeling to be here with Tristan. They weren't saying a word yet everything seemed okay. His mere presence, especially after what she had told him earlier, gave her a slight boost in confidence. It was possible that she may not be the _most_ awful person in the world for what she had done. At least she felt badly about it, right?

She didn't attempt conversation again until she was halfway through the paper. "You could have woken me up you know."

For the first time that morning Tristan looked over at her. "You needed to sleep," he said simply. e His

"Well thank you."

"You're welcome." His eyes moved back to the paper and the conversation was over. It may have been simple but it was enough.

"I'm going to take a shower," she told him as she stood up from the table. Rory didn't wait for an answer before moving into her room and closing the door.

Tristan watched as she went back into her room before he stood and put all their dishes into the dishwasher. He knew that she wasn't much of morning person, neither was he really, and they managed just fine without a long conversation. Tristan hadn't lied earlier, he really did think that she needed her sleep and wanted her to sleep as long as possible. If she felt comfortable that was most important. Though he was surprised by her story it didn't make him think any less of her. In fact, it did quite the opposite. Tristan was actually relieved that she wasn't the same sheltered, innocent girl that he knew in high school. The world was a cold, cruel place and though he was sad she had to learn the extremes of it, it would be awful to graduate college completely jaded.

If anyone had asked him if Rory Gilmore would have slept with a married man he would have laughed. "My Mary?" He would have asked the person. "Never." But people surprise you.

If anyone would have asked him if Rory Gilmore would have ever been arrested he would have laughed. "Mary? Arrested? I don't think that's possible. Way too innocent." But innocence isn't everything and eventually it disappears. No one can be innocent and naïve forever. It would be the most boring existence possible. Though Tristan now hated Logan Huntzberger he was grateful that the other man had brought Rory out of her shell. Though the two had never met, Tristan knew Logan's reputation. Logan was the perfect person to help Rory experience a completely different side to life, which it sounds like he did. It wasn't Huntzberger's fault that his father was a complete ass. Tristan had been hearing stories about Mitchum for years. The difference was that _now_ he cared. _Now_ if he ever met the guy he would hold nothing back. The man was scum. He obviously didn't know talent; Rory Gilmore was talent. Anyone who could shoot her down, shoot down her dreams like that, was a complete asshole.

He moved into his own room, intending to take a shower so they could spend the day exploring London. Tristan's goal was to help her realize that even though she's made some mistakes that didn't mean she was an awful person. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone has regrets; the important thing is to not let them rule your life. Apologize, fix the situation as best you can, own up to whatever it was that you had done and work on moving on without hating yourself for the rest of your life.

It was another hour before they met in the living room, both excited about going out. "All set?" Tristan asked her.

"Yeah." She smiled at him, a genuine smile, and Tristan felt like he was making progress. Taking her hand, he led her out of the apartment, pausing so she could lock the door behind them, and headed for the elevator. "Where are we going first?" She asked him.

Tristan laughed at her silly question. "For coffee of course."

"You're perfect!" She grinned and started to move faster down the street so they could feed her coffee addiction as quickly as possible. "Thank you." She looked over at him as they walked out of The Coffee Republic each with a steaming cup.

"Of course. Can't have you all grouchy, can we?"

"That wouldn't be such a good idea," Rory agreed with him. "Where next?"

"Any preference?" Tristan asked.

"Nope." Rory was happy to let Tristan control the afternoon. She just wanted someone to take charge for a little while. She wanted to know that there was someone to take care of her, to count on. She didn't want to be alone anymore.

Tristan had one goal that afternoon: make Rory smile. He had seen a true smile earlier but as suddenly as it appeared it went away. He wasn't sure if she really wanted to talk about her situation in Hartford in any more detail. Tristan knew she would tell him more of the details later, Rory was obviously beginning to trust him, but he knew better to push. She came to England to get away from the constant pressure from her family, the expectations she no longer knew if she could meet and the watchful eyes that made her nervous. He would be the silent support she needed, the comforting arms, the unbiased, non-judgmental person in her life.

"Are we there yet?" Rory's voice broke through Tristan's thoughts.

"Are we where yet?" He was teasing her.

"I don't know; you're the one doing the guiding."

"I am? I thought you were in charge."

"Tristan!" Rory pushed her body lightly against his in a teasing manner. She felt better this afternoon then she had since she and Logan broke up. The split had been amicable; Logan didn't know how to help her through the situation and Rory was frustrated with Logan wanting her to return to her old self. Even though she had recognized the changes to her personality and demeanor she wasn't in the proper state of mind to do something about it. Logan couldn't help her, he didn't know how. He needed the together Rory. He needed the Rory that was slightly sheltered, had dreams of becoming an overseas correspondent, was best friends with her mother and loved to sniff books. She couldn't be that Rory and they both knew it was better to end their relationship on friendly terms. He didn't know she was in London because he would have tried to stop her. They weren't dating but they were still friends. Rory had needed Logan's playful influence in her mess of a life. She needed him, Finn, Colin and the rest of their crazy friends to remind her that things would be okay. Everyone screwed up, sometimes bigger mistakes then others, but everyone screws up and everyone survives.

That was something Tristan was helping with as well. Rory felt that Tristan was a bigger influence because she had a past with him. She may not have liked him that much during high school, but she still knew him. For some reason she even though that he knew her better than Logan did. It was a strange concept considering she and Logan were closer then she and Tristan ever were, but there was something different with the relationships. Tristan knew her at a time where she truly was innocent and sheltered and living in Stars Hollow. Logan knew her after everything had happened. He had fed her changing, slightly rebellious ways, accepting her when her mother didn't fully and helping her lessen that pain. In lessening that pain, however, he was changing her life. It wasn't on purpose, he didn't want to change her, but he was the catalyst of her change. Logan accepted her with all her faults and never held them against her.

"Mary? You still with me?" Tristan looked down at her quickly as they turned another corner.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Rory looked up at him wondering if her thoughts caused her to miss something important.

"No. I just thought you'd been quiet for too long."

"Oh, so I have to be the one to chatter incessantly, is that it?"

"No, you don't have to be the one, you just usually are."

"Tristan!"

"Yes dear?" He looked at her, feigning all kinds of innocence.

"Where are we going?" She decided to change the topic again.

"Here." He opened the door of his favorite bookstore, remembering that the first time he had ever seen her was in here.

She walked in the store and looked around before turning back to him and speaking, "Tristan…" She was looking at him curiously. "Why didn't you say anything to me that day?"

He was leading her through the store into the back where he knew the small café was. "Excuse me?" Tristan stopped walking, somewhat surprised when Rory not only asked him that question but led him in another direction.

"One day before school started I was in here and when I looked up for a second I swore I saw you, but I wasn't sure. Since I didn't know if it was you I didn't say anything. I figured if it was you and you did see me then you would have said something to me."

"You didn't want to say anything to me?"

Rory blushed. "I never said that. I just…I would have been too embarrassed to say something." She had stopped in front of a shelf and looked it over quickly before picking two books out and heading back in the direction she came. Rory was ready for that coffee now.

"Embarrassed? Why?"

"I haven't seen you in years Tristan. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know how you were going to react. With everything I had gone through in the last few months I wouldn't have been able to handle you shunning me."

"So thinking I was ignoring you was a better option?" He ordered them two coffees and paid, even though Rory did try to pay for it, making sure to get a scone for them to share as well. A minute later, coffee in hand, they picked a table to sit at and continue their conversation.

"I didn't know if you were ignoring me. It could have not been you or you just could not have seen me."

"Oh, I saw you."

"You did?" Rory looked down at her coffee mug before speaking. "Why didn't you say anything?" Her voice was very soft, very small, and Tristan just wanted to pick her up and protect her from the entire world. He wanted to force the old Mary, the true Mary, out of hiding.

"I wasn't sure it was you. Hell Rory, I wasn't sure if you'd want me too! We didn't part on the best of terms if you remember."

"I remember," she replied softly. "I don't hate you." She looked at him as she said that. "I never did. I said that to Dean so he'd ease up on the jealous, over-protective bit. I never meant for you to hear it."

Tristan didn't know if that last part made him feel any better. "Thanks." It still made a difference to know she didn't hate him. A big difference. Maybe he hadn't been _as_ horrible in high school as he thought. He knew he had been a screw up but having Rory say that she hated him was a blow in the chest. "Even after all this time it's really nice to hear that," he told her honestly.

Rory's eyes were steadily watching his face, her emotions going haywire as she saw Tristan's reaction to her words. She never knew that she had hurt him that badly, knowing was both a blessing and a curse. Now Rory could apologize for such harsh words that weren't even true, she could set the record straight. Unfortunately it came at the price of hurting Tristan by reminding him of that day. His eyes told her all she needed to know about the pain those three little words had caused. Needlessly caused; she and Dean were doomed from that first time they broke up and she should have realized that. The one kiss at Madeline's party meant more then anything she and Dean had shared.

"What did you say?" Tristan had been focusing on her hand that was resting on top on his on the table. She had placed it there as they spoke of her words all that time ago. He knew she could see his emotions clearly and felt badly for causing her needless pain; he had gotten over those words, used them as something to push him during military school and the time after. Those words had guided him to be a better person. Tristan constantly thought about making himself better for his Mary. If he reformed, became the person she thought he could be, then maybe he would have chance with her. Never in a million years did he truly believe he would get that chance. He had been thinking about all of this while staring at her hand on his when he heard her mutter something alone the lines of "the one kiss at…party…meant more…and Dean shared". He obviously didn't get the entire sentence and was dying to know what she really was thinking.

"Huh?" Rory had no idea that she had muttered part of her last thought out loud.

"You just said something about a party and Dean and I want to know what the whole thought was."

"Why?" Rory blushed.

"So I had something to do with this thought, did I?" He could tell by her blush that she was obviously doing some kind of comparison between him and Dean.

"Well…"

"Just tell me Mary." Tristan winked at her and waited.

"I said thattheonekissatMadelinspartymeantmorethananythingDeanandIhadshared," Rory said it quickly extremely embarrassed and turning a brighter shade of red.

"Say it again?" He had picked up a few more words this time but still was missing something.

"I said that theonekissatMadelinsparty meantmorethananything DeanandIhadshared." Rory broke it into smaller pieces but her speed didn't get slower.

Tristan sat back and took a moment to decipher all of her words. "Really?" He was watching even more intently now. "What brought about this realization?"

Rory took a moment to try and calm herself down, speaking again when she felt her face had returned to a slightly more normal color. "I was thinking about how my words had effected you and that maybe if you knew that the one kiss at Madeline's party meant more than anything Dean and I had shared things may have turned out differently."

Tristan wanted to lean over and kiss her, he even thought about it, but he stopped himself. He wasn't sure she was ready for anything to happen between them, she needed time to sort things out before another complicated was added to her life. It wasn't as if he didn't think she could handle a relationship right now, it was just better for her not to have to worry about one. Keeping things on a somewhat less intense level may be better then jumping into something when everything in her life was so jumbled. He needed to be a rock, not part of the problem.

Rory could see that Tristan wanted to kiss her—and surprisingly she wanted him to kiss her. She knew it probably wasn't the best time to get involved in any kind of serious relationship but another part of her knew a relationship between her and Tristan was inevitable. Why she thought that Rory wasn't sure, but there was something telling her that Tristan wouldn't be leaving her alone a lot and she would quickly become attached. He was going to be the steady force in her life, silently helping her bring the scattered pieces of her life back together. Rory laughed as she thought about a silly question she used to ask her mom "if I broke into a million pieces would you put me back together again?" Lorelai always answered yes. Of course, Lorelai also told her she would hire someone to do it because she didn't have enough patience to deal with a million pieces but she would supervise and stay up drinking coffee until Rory was one piece again. How she wished that was really true.

"What are you thinking about?" Tristan asked her suddenly.

"Oh…um…something I used to say to my mom."

"What?" He was prying, he knew it, but it was making her sad on a day he planned to do nothing but make her smile.

"Oh, well, I used to ask her if she would put me back together again if I fell into a million pieces. Cause you know that saying it broke into a million pieces and well…she always said she would, but she lied." The last part was said softly but Tristan heard her.

"Don't worry Rory," he said clearly and just as soft. Tristan moved his hand so it was no longer resting underneath hers but their fingers intertwined. He wanted to offer her whatever comfort he could. "I'll put you back together again. I won't rest until you're one piece."

His voice was filled with such conviction that Rory felt tears spring into her eyes. She smiled softly as she felt Tristan's other hand on her face gently wiping the tears away. "Thank you." She didn't say anything as she picked up the books on the table and handed one to Tristan. Understanding her meaning he opened it and began reading her selection while Rory did the same.

"Okay, I need to stretch, let's buy these and walk around some more," Tristan announced about an hour later.

Rory looked up from her book slightly surprised to hear his voice. She had gotten so caught up in the story she had actually forgotten where she was and who she was with. "Sounds like a good idea," Rory agreed. Now that she thought about it her legs were a little stiff and her eyes wouldn't mind a break from the pages. Those factors overruled her mind that wanted to know what was going to happened on the next page. "Where are we going?"

"All in due time Mary, all in due time." He threw her a grin as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and moved towards the till at the front of the store.

As they walked out of the store and onto Charring Cross Road Rory had to smile at the rain that was falling. Typical London weather and she actually didn't mind. Without really thinking about it Rory began to hum a tune she didn't realize she even knew. Gilmore girls were not exactly fans of the musical, Lane didn't approve of them and Lorelai claimed they reminded her too much of Emily. Rory, however, didn't mind listening to them every so often and one of her favorites was _Les Miserables_, the show from which her song was from.

"Tristan?" She asked him as they walked down the street.

"Yeah?" Tristan looked at her quickly as they continued to walk down the street while holding hands.

"Can we go see _Les Mis_?"

"You watch musicals?" Tristan was shocked. He had never pegged Rory as a fan of the Broadway musical.

"I don't mind some of them and _Les Miserables_ is one of my favorites."

The smile that crossed her face was so pretty that Tristan couldn't, and wouldn't, deny her anything. "Well if it's _Les Mis_ you want to see, it's _Les Mis_ that you'll see. Come on, let's go get tickets." He hailed a Black Cab so they would get to the theater faster, trying to place the song that she was humming and singing softly to. As they settled back into the cab, Tristan picked up on the words and couldn't help but smile.

_A little fall of rain_

_Can hardly hurt me now_

_You're here, that's all I need to know_

_And you will keep me safe_

_And you will keep me close_

_And rain will make the flowers grow…_

_The rain can't hurt me now_

_This rain will wash away what's past_

_And you will keep me safe_

_And you will keep me close…_


	8. The Chronicles of Rory

**AN: ** So I just wanted to let you all know that I simply love this story. Rereading this chapter in order to edit just reminded me of that. I hope you like it as much as I do. Enjoy!

**GGGGGGGGG**

**Chapter 8: The Chronicles of Rory**

_October 25, 2005_

_Dear Mom,_

_I'm not really too sure where to begin. This past weekend I was in London with Tristan and he suggested writing you letters. He saw how lost I was without having you to talk to all of the time and suggested writing as an outlet. At least this way you can read about what I have been doing with my life out here. I hope that one day you'll not only read them, but understand why I'm here. Although I want to do this I'm not too sure where to begin. Should I start with where we left off or pick up with my life in England? I'm so unsure._

_Congratulations on your engagement. I'm glad that you and Luke came to your senses. He's been a great dad to me all of these years and it's great that you two are finally getting together for real. I'm sorry that I had to hear it from Grandma, I'm sorry that you didn't want my cell phone number and I'm sorry that you have no interest in talking to me. I know why you feel this way, I know I screwed up but I never thought we'd become strangers to each other. I never thought we were capable of hurting each other like this. You've been my best friend my entire life and even with this rift I know you'll be my best friend for the rest of my life. I only wish that my best friend, although she is my mother, would have been able to be my best friend when I needed her most and not played the mom card. _

_I'm sorry that this letter has taken on an accusatory tone, that wasn't my intention. I miss you. I don't know how to start talking to you again, I don't know how to break the rift but I'm trying. Tristan's been my rock, I can't be more thankful that he's not only here but changed. Oh! I haven't told you about him really, have I? You may not remember him as Tristan since we usually called him Bible Boy or Spawn of Satan. Ring any bells? The boy who dubbed me Mary, got sent to military school and forced me to kiss Paris has returned. Bigger and better then ever. He's changed mom. We've only really reconnected in the past few days but I think I would be lost without him. I know you need more of an explanation than that but it'll have to wait for the next letter. It's three o'clock in the morning and I should get back to bed. This damn insomnia is a killer! _

_I know you don't feel it and may not believe me completely but I love you mom…and I miss you more than should be legally permitted. I hope you're doing okay and Luke and the rest of Stars Hollow is taking care of you. _

_--Rory_

Rory folded the letter and placed it in her bag. She had fallen asleep fairly early in the evening and woken up an hour ago after a vivid dream about her mother. Her 21st birthday was coming up and Rory still hadn't dealt with the idea that Lorelai wouldn't be there. They wouldn't follow through with their Atlantic City plans, they wouldn't be talking…hell, Lorelai wouldn't even be telling Rory the story of her birth. It was a ridiculous tradition but Rory loved it nonetheless.

"Rory?"

She looked up at his voice and couldn't help but smile at his appearance. His eyes were mostly shut, his hair was sticking up in more directions then it normally did, and he was wearing nothing but his boxers. His body was perfectly sculpted from not only his years at military school but all the exercise he still kept up with. They had come back from London four days ago and ever since that first night in the city Rory had been unable to sleep without him. She tried Sunday night in her own bed and ended up staring at the ceiling after a disturbing dream ended her restless sleep. Fed up with being awake Rory decided to take a walk and ended up at Tristan's door. She banged on it loudly to get him up knowing that Carter was at her dorm this evening. It had taken almost five minutes for Tristan to answer but when he did, looking much like he did at this very moment, he opened his arms and led her to his bed. Since then they had not spent a night apart.

"Are you okay?" He asked while moving closer to her.

Rory nodded and turned to him with a small smile. "I couldn't really sleep."

"You should have woken me up. I told you to." He moved over to where she was sitting and looked down at her. "Are you sure you're okay?" They had gotten back from a relaxing and fun weekend in London, well for the most part that was, and Tristan thought things had really started to change-he expected to find Rory being a little more social. When he and Carter met Ella for lunch Tuesday afternoon, however, he found that wasn't true. Though she ended up at his doorstep the night before Rory had no interest in being with people. She still spent the majority of her time at class or in the library. Tristan was determined to get her to start going out, especially since her birthday was next week and he doubted the librarians would let them through a party there.

"I'm sure," she answered him softly. "I was writing my mom a letter." Rory looked almost embarrassed by admitting it.

"That's good." Tristan saw that she wasn't going to be standing anytime soon so he sat down next to her, sliding an arm around her shoulders to pull her close against him.

"I'm still not sure it's a good idea."

"It'll get better," he promised her. Rory nodded in response and let her head fall against his shoulder. He waited until he knew she was asleep before picking her up and settling them both in his bed. She instantly wrapped herself around him and Tristan felt a sense of wholeness that scared him slightly.

**GGGGGGG**

She was sitting in the library, once again, only this time the book was pleasure instead of school. Not surprisingly, Rory was over a week ahead in her reading for all of her classes and moving onto one of her old favorites. As she hit the halfway mark she decided to insert her bookmark and get some fresh air. It was an unusually nice day outside and Rory had little interest in sitting outside. She may not be a fan of going out every night with Ella, Tristan, Carter and the rest of their friends, but she did love to walk around. Deciding the day was too nice to spend in a restaurant or the bookstore, Rory took to wandering around the town in hopes of clearing her head further.

As she contently wandered around town a smile graced her features when she came across a park. The smile grew as she found a white gazebo and was instantly transported back to the town square in Stars Hollow. She desperately missed the people and the stories from her hometown, particularly feeling bad at thoughts of Lane—who she had not spoken to since she moved to London. Rory craved the insane stories of Taylor and idiosyncrasies of Kirk, especially missing the gruff sound of Luke's voice accompanied by the best coffee on the Eastern Seaboard. As all of these memories came rushing into her mind Rory sat down on the gazebo and extracted a notebook and pen, ready to write her mother another letter.

_October 30, 2005_

_Dear Mom,_

_I've been avoiding writing this letter. It may be number two, but I think it's harder to get out then the first one. Currently I am sitting in a small park not far from campus in a white gazebo that reminds me of Stars Hollow. How is the town? What has been going on? How's Lane doing? I'm being the world's worst friend to her, I wish it could be different but I don't think I'm good for anyone right now. Sometimes I feel like I'm holding Tristan back and he should go live his life as he did before he knew I was here. I can tell Ella, my roommate and his roommate's girlfriend, is fed up with me. She has tried for the entire semester to get me to go out and have fun—and now that I'm so close with Tristan she thought things would change but they haven't._

_You'd like Ella mom. She's so much like we are—crazy in her unique ways and very on top of pop-culture. When I'm in the mood we can have great conversations, we've even had some good movie nights. Of course there are a lot of movies I won't watch, and she doesn't understand why, but at least she's stopped asking me about it. You're someone that I can't talk about with anyone who doesn't know you—so basically only Tristan hears about you._

The ringing of her cell phone interrupted Rory's thoughts. She picked up the object to find the number was blocked and answered it despite her better judgment. "Hello?"

"Rory?" The voice questioned as if they were surprised she actually picked up the phone. Why would you call someone if you didn't think they'd pick up?

"Dad?" She recognized the voice immediately and was shocked that it was him. She really didn't believe it.

"So you still recognize my voice?"

Rory smiled. "You're a hard one to forget," she said. "How are you? Where did you get my number?"

"Your grandmother gave it to me. Thanks for letting me know you were leaving the country kid." Christopher's voice was filled with mild annoyance, Though he may have been absent for a lot of her life he still appreciated knowing what was going on in her life. "How are you doing?" His voice changed from slightly annoyed to concerned. Emily hadn't told him much about the situation but he knew she wasn't speaking with Lorelai and moved to London as an alternative to joining the D.AR..

"I'm okay. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you I was coming here. It was a last minute decision, Grandpa helped me get in. I couldn't stay in Hartford anymore."

"Too stifling?"

"Yeah."

"How are things on the other side of the Atlantic?" Chris didn't believe a word she said about being okay.

"They aren't as bad as I'm sure you think I sound. I ran into a friend from Chilton and he's been really good to me. I talk to Grandma and Grandma every week. I'm doing well in classes and I get to visit London whenever I want, I was given keys to Gran's apartment; she had an entire floor to herself! It's an amazing flat, I love London too."

"That all sounds great Ror." At least it sounded like she had a smile on her face.

"You should come visit. Bring Gigi even."

"Really?" He wasn't expecting an invitation like that.

"Sure. I'm going to be here at least until the end of the year, it would be nice to see a familiar face. Well besides Grandma and Grandpa who I'm sure will visit without an invitation."

"That's a pretty safe bet," Chris responded. "They'll come when you least expect it."

"I'm sure." Rory laughed again. "But will you come?"

"If you want me too. I may leave Gigi home for this visit though." Chris knew he'd spend the next few days working on rearranging his schedule so he could get out there sometime soon—for as long as he could too, hopefully a week. "How are handling things without your mom?" He knew it would be a sore topic but he had to know. Chris had learned about Rory's exit from the country from Luke. The other man had called him at work last week worried about Lorelai and shocked to find Chris knew nothing about Rory's year at Oxford. Luke informed Chris that Lorelai was dying inside from Rory's absence and something needed to be done. The task was severely complicated by Rory's move across an ocean but they needed to try and end the rift.

"It's equivalent to cutting off my right arm," Rory answered him in the best way she could while still not truly giving an answer.

"That good, huh?" He tried to add some levity to the conversation. "Why don't you call her? Say something?"

"Grandma told her where I was, said I wanted her to have my number and mom turned her down; turned me down. She told Grandma to let me know that she and Luke were engaged and hung up." Rory shrugged although her father couldn't see it. "If she wanted to talk to me she could have taken my number and called—at least yelled at me or something. But she didn't—she said everything she needed to by refusing my number from Grandma. And having Grandma tell me about her engagement was pretty crappy too. She could have emailed me, just as impersonal and all that. But nothing. Her choice too."

"You could call her too you know. She's hurting just as much as you are."

"I'm not calling her first. Sorry daddy, you can't convince me." Rory looked down at her watch and sighed. "I'm sorry to cut you off, but I need to get going." She had promised her friends that tonight she would go out with them. Actually, Tristan threatened her if she didn't go out with them tonight, he was planning on cutting off her coffee supply and she couldn't let that happen.

"I'll let you go, but don't think I'll be dropping this subject anytime soon. I'll call you when I know when I'm going to come out."

"Okay Daddy, sounds good." She didn't know why she had reverted to the childhood name but she had. It made her sound more vulnerable and Chris' worry-meter went off the chart.

"I love you Rory." He wanted her to know that even if she wasn't speaking to her mother and didn't know where Lorelai stood, she knew what he was feeling.

"Love you too Daddy." She disconnected the phone and turned back to the letter in front of her.

_I just got off the phone with dad. I was surprised that he called. I figure he heard something from Grandma or maybe even you because you won't say anything to me and I am his daughter, isn't that right? He took a year off and went against everything his parents wanted so I must be taking after him for this segment of my life. I'm sure you threw it in his face too, but remember mom, he didn't do anything with his time away from Princeton—I'm at Oxford—big difference._

_I know that this entire rift started with Logan and your inability to give him the benefit of the doubt. I only hope that if you meet Tristan you treat him differently. Of course, it's not like the two of us are dating or anything like that, but I have a not-so-pleasant history with Tristan and I hope you give him a chance to prove to you that he's changed. That is if you ever meet him. And I hope that you do. I hope that we can get past this impasse we're at. I'm not sure we can return to our old routine, I'm not sure what'll happen when we meet again, I can only hope that it's pleasant. For no other reason then you're my mother and I never want to see us acting like you do with your mother. _

"Rory?" His voice made her jump. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay Carter, if you can just wait one minute so I can finish this." She looked from him back to her paper to finish the letter.

_I have to go now Mom. Carter, Tristan's roommate and Ella's beau, found me and I'm sure I'm late for dinner. Between the call from Dad and this letter I probably got caught up in everything and forgot the time. It sounds like everyone was looking for me; he's on the phone with Tristan who will probably call Ella. They're great friends even if they are a bit over protective._

_I miss you mom. _

_I love you._

_--Rory_

"Everything okay?" Carter asked as he watched her fold the piece of paper up and put everything away in her bag.

"Just fine thanks, am I really running that late that you had to come looking for me?" She asked as she stood from her seat and stretched before turning around to him.

"About a half hour," he admitted. "No one had seen you all afternoon so we decided to start looking. You weren't in any of your normal spots."

"I wanted to enjoy the day," she said. "It was unusually beautiful out." Rory looked around her and noticed that the sun was setting. One of the things about the area that took some getting used to was the quick change in weather; one minute the sun could be shining and the next it was dark and raining. "Or it was when I left the library."

"So you were in the library!"

"When am I not?"

He laughed. "That's true. Well come on, before it starts to rain again, we should meet up with the others."

"Who's coming?" Rory asked. She hadn't spent a lot of time with their other friends, barely knew them by name actually—certainly not by face.

"Addison, Jasper, Tim, Isabelle, Katie and Abby. Tristan and I have been friends with all of them since freshman year. We lived on the same floor." He held open the door to the pub for her and Rory immediately walked to the bar. She didn't even notice Carter, as well as everyone else, watching her.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked her with a smile. He hadn't seen her here before but she walked in with Carter, who he knew quite well.

"A red-headed slut, and an Irish Coffee." She ordered and her smile grew as her thoughts carried to Finn. During the time which she and Logan dated Rory had become quite friendly with his friends, particularly Finn, Colin and Steph. One of the many things Finn had managed to teach her was about drinking. The red headed slut was one of his favorite shots, for obvious reasons, and when he noted her insane addiction to coffee he found a way to include it in alcohol. It seemed that Finn could find a way to get the straight-laced Rory Gilmore to truly drink underage.

"Interesting combination," the bartender noted as he placed the drink in front of her.

"I have interesting friends," she answered him with a smile. Like the expert Finn had molded her into Rory took the shot placed in front of her. Laughing softly at the look on the bartender's face she paid him for her drinks before heading to the table full of people watching her.

"What was that?" Ella immediately questioned. They had been living together almost three months and she had never seen her roommate touch alcohol. Ella truly thought Rory had an aversion to it.

"What was what?" Rory asked as she slid into the open seat next to Tristan and took a sip of her coffee.

"You drink?" Her eyes were wide and not leaving her friends face.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Rory looked at her roommate surprised. Although she certainly hadn't been vocal and partying or at the pub all the time Rory did drink occasionally; a trivial detail being that the bottles were in her closet and no one knew about them. It was also considerably easier to do so here because the drinking age was 18 and Finn really had introduced Rory to the world of alcohol. Of course she hadn't had the full set of lessons because she wasn't 21, but he had always promised that on her birthday the "real fun" would begin. Rory's qualms were with what Finn considered "real fun" if what he was currently doing was just having a good time.

"I've just never seen you drink anything before." Ella's voice was slightly defensive.

"Come to think of it Mare," Tristan started, "I don't think I've ever seen you drink anything either." He had an arm thrown around the back of her chair and had been listening to Rory's conversation with slight interest. Tristan had spent a lot of time with her in the past five days and had never picked up that she was a drinker of any sort.

Rory shrugged and took another sip of her coffee. "Yeah, well, there's a lot that none of you know." Her voice was slightly cold and closed off, extremely defensive as well. For a split second she found herself wishing for the ability to call her mother before hoping that Finn would walk through the door and break the tension she could feel around her. Even if he came with Logan, and probably Colin who had warmed up to her over the months she was with Logan Rory wouldn't mind. She just wanted people who wouldn't constantly question her; that was always the nice part of being with the elite of Yale, they knew when to back off and they very rarely pried. They were a group that tried to avoid reality, not delve deeper into it.

"What were you doing all day?" Tristan picked up on the slightly hostile tone of her voice and didn't want the situation to escalate to the point where she would walk out of the pub and go into hiding. It had taken a lot of work to get her to this point—he only hoped the party he had planned for this weekend wouldn't backfire on him.

"Oh, it was so lovely this afternoon that I actually left the library early and sat outside. I found a park with a gazebo looked just like Stars…" She cut her sentence off and looked down at the table.

"I know the park you're talking about, it's pretty nice there in the spring time—parents bring their kids there in the spring time, when the weather is a bit nicer." Tristan knew that thinking about home made Rory upset, he wanted the subject changed. "I don't think you've been formally introduced to the rest of the table yet Mare, have you?" Rory shook her head and looked at the others when she lifted her mug to discover it was empty.

Making a sad face she looked at the visible bottom of the mug. "Empty. So sad." Smiling as she shook her head, and once again thought of Finn, Rory looked towards the bartender and motioned to her drink. He nodded in response and brought her drink over a moment later. "Thanks." She smiled at him and he returned the gesture before going back behind the bar.

"Wrapped around your finger already? You work fast Gilmore," Carter noted. "It took us months before Jonah warmed up to us."

"It's a gift," Rory said with a shrug. "Finn did teach me a few things after all."

"Finn?" Ella asked; she rarely heard Rory talk about anyone that could be from home. Ella always recognized the names of the people Rory spoke of.

"A friend from home," Rory said quickly. "Weren't you going to make introductions?" She looked over at Tristan and flashed him a brief, but real, smile.

Tristan happily returned to the conversation that started before her drink refill, knowing that whoever Finn was, Rory had no interest in speaking of him. "Right, introductions. To your right are Addison and Jasper, who I believe you met a few months ago at this very pub," Tristan smiled remembering the night that Carter and Ella met, "on the other side of Carter is Tim, Katie, Isabelle, who we all call Belle, and Abby. Everyone this is Rory Gilmore." There was a round of nice to meet yous and hellos. Rory smiled at the table.

"We've heard a lot about you, glad you finally decided to make an appearance," Katie said with a smile.

"Tristan can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be," Rory answered the other girl. "That is if I'm actually open to the topic."

Tristan laughed at her slight dig. "You were always open to the topic Mary, you just didn't want to admit it. Although why Bagboy seemed so much more appealing then I did I don't think I'll ever understand."

"He wasn't a 16 year-old, spoiled trust-fund brat, who had never been turned down in his life. DEAN," Rory stressed his name, "didn't think he was god's gift to the opposite sex."

"Ouch!" Addison laughed at Rory's dig on Tristan. None of them really knew anything Tristan's life before meeting him at Oxford. They all knew he had gone to military school and had a wealthy family in Connecticut, but Tristan never talked of his family.

"Okay, I _have_ to know," Belle began, "why in the world does he call you Mary?"

The pair shared a look and Rory couldn't contain her laughter. Tristan was surprised for a moment before he joined her while Ella and Carter, who knew Rory "the most" after Tristan, that is continued to look at her in shock. Neither of them had ever heard Rory sound like that before. "You or me?" She managed to ask him through her laughter.

Since Tristan managed to calm down before she did he filled in the rest of the table. "Rory here came to her first day of Chilton our sophomore year and was the mere picture of innocence. We dubbed her Mary right then and there."

"And ever since that first day he's never been able to remember my name."

"Now that's not true," Tristan argued with her.

"Okay, let me amend my previous statement then." She looked at him and then the others. "He _knows_ my name, just _refuses_ to use it!" They all laughed.

"So you mean, he was calling you The Virgin Mary?" Tim asked.

Rory nodded. "And even five years later he insists on using the name."

"You'll always be a Mary to me," he said with a smirk. While the rest of the table broke out in laughter Tristan leaned closer to her ear to add something to his previous statement. "Even if you enjoy lacing your coffee with something stronger." He broke out in laughter at her shocked face. "Between your breath and the mug you keep drinking from you didn't think I'd pick up on it?"

Rory took another sip and shook her head at him. "What can I say, I've spent too much time with Finn; an Irish coffee tends to be my staple at a pub."

"You realize you're going to have to fill me in on who exactly Finn is, right?" Tristan kept his tone playful, he didn't want to ruin her good mood.

"I do, but suffice to say he's a good friend despite the fact that he's known Logan for years and the two are best of friends."

Tristan nodded shortly. "Message received. Sounds like a good guy."

"Oh he is; one of the best people to go drinking with actually. Well it's probably better to say one of the best people to _join_ when wanting to drink—Finn always seems to be ingesting something alcoholic. One could say he's an alcoholic, but that's really not it with Finn."

"I'd like to meet him," Tristan told her.

"Maybe one day," Rory answered him before turning back to the rest of the table who immediately began questioning her.


	9. Just Around The Corner

**Chapter 9: Just Around The Corner**

_November 5, 2006_

_Dear Mom,_

_Tristan's planning something. I'm not too sure what yet, but I know he's up to something—and I know it's for my birthday. I don't know whether or not to be happy that he wants to throw me some kind of party even though he knows how upset I am that I'm not going to be with you for this milestone. He wants to make this day better for me, I know that. It's really sweet. Tristan's really sweet. It's not staying so platonic with him though. There's a lot of sexual tension. Yes, for once in my life I'm not oblivious, I'm just choosing to ignore what's going on. This is definitely one of those times where I wish I could pick up the phone and talk to you. Your advice would be appreciated. I guess I could tell you what's been going on between us though. _

_You'll probably laugh when you read this and tell me that I'm ridiculous because well it's obvious that there's something there…I think. We've been in a lot of situations lately where we've been centimeters away from kissing but pulled back. I think he's afraid of hurting me—which means I need to take the first step, make the first move, something I've never done and am not good at. Basically any time that I'm not in class or working on the paper here another thing he's started me doing again or studying I'm spending with Tristan. He makes it that way. Even if he's sitting with me while I'm studying he makes sure he's there. And of course now Ella makes sure that I'm going out with them more often. While I know that I can't be a hermit I also know that I have a right to some alone time. There's so much crap going on right now I really don't understand why I have to be 100 social. It's not who I am to begin with. _

_Anyway, I have managed some time alone this evening. I stayed in the library pretty late and found a note from Ella and Carter that they're going out and spending the night at Carter's. Tristan isn't around, though I'm sure by the time I go to sleep tonight he'll find me, but he's probably working on the birthday party that I shouldn't know anything about. Truly I don't know anything about it, the only thing I know is that he's planning on. Something tells me it may be in London, but that's not definite. _

_I hope that things are going well Mom. It's hard not having you in my life. I miss you. _

_Love,_

_Rory_

Folding up the letter Rory added it to the folder she had started. Though she hadn't told anyone that she had been writing to her mother, Rory suspected that Tristan knew. He was being so wonderful to her, such a good friend. He was picking up the pieces to her broken heart, her broken life and she couldn't imagine her time at Oxford, this turning point in her life, that didn't have Tristan as a part of it.

"Mary?" His voice rang through the common room and Rory had to smile. She knew he would appear sometime soon, it was almost midnight after all. "You here?"

"My room!" She called out to him.

"What are you doing in here?" He questioned as he came through the door and collapsed onto her bed.

"Um…enjoying some time by myself?" Rory posed rhetorically as she turned around to look at him.

"Am I interrupting? Do you want me to leave?" Tristan sat up and looked at her carefully. He realized that they had been spending an awful lot of time together ever since their return from London and had a strange feeling it was freaking her out. That didn't mean it wasn't freaking _him_ out, he was just better prepared to deal with all of it. He had liked Rory for years and was willing to go through the entire awkward stage before letting something happen—especially after hearing what had happened to her this past year. Rory, on the other hand, had never expected to run into him or find something romantic so soon after things ended with Logan. She came to Oxford to escape, not necessarily start something new…something with the former playboy of Chilton. The former bane of her existence.

"No," she answered him quickly. Rory panicked at the look on his face when he heard her question and then answered her. Tristan looked ready to stand up and leave her alone. She had no interest in it. It had never been tried, but ever since London Rory was afraid that if she fell asleep alone she'd never get sleep; it would be like before she told Tristan everything. She had no interest in going back to that situation; however, Rory knew that she couldn't have Tristan sleeping next to her forever, and one day she'd have to try being on her own, but for now she was taking advantage of him and would do nothing about it. "Stay. It's just been a long day."

Tristan's answer was to hold his arms open suggesting that she come lay down with him. Happily Rory moved to her bed and laid down next to him, her head on his chest, his arms wrapping tightly around her back. "Everything okay?" He asked her softly, running his hands up and down her back.

"They're fine. How's the party planning going?" She asked him with a short laugh.

"What? How did you know?" He spoke before thinking, confirming her idea that he was planning something.

"A wild guess. You've been too easily distracted the past couple of days. Tell me what's going on," she whined.

"Never!" At least she didn't know details.

"Come on Tris, please?" She moved back slightly to give him her puppy dog eyes.

"Not going to work on me Mary. It's bad enough you know that something is happening; don't begin to think that I'm going to tell you when, where, who or any other pressing questions you may have. I need some level of suspense and shock.

"I think you'd have it no matter what. I'm surprised that you're doing something at all."

"I told you that I was going to do something; I wasn't lying."

"Does everyone know?" She asked, knowing that she hadn't told any of "their" friends her birthday was only three days away.

Tristan shook his head. "I haven't said anything to anyone yet. I'm going to tell them tomorrow, officially invite them and all, so be prepared."

"Thanks," she said gracefully. "Ella is going to kill me. I think she's still upset with me over things."

"What things?" There were times where he felt a little tension between the roommates but he never brought it up.

"I think she's still upset that I know you and we're close whereas she and I live together and we're not entirely close. She doesn't like that I don't tell her things."

"I'm sure if she knew the entire story she'd feel differently." Tristan attempted to make her feel better.

"I agree with you there but I'm not ready to tell anyone anything yet."

"I understand Mar, really." He squeezed her close to him. "Have a good day?"

"All things considered yeah."

"How were your exams?" He had actually helped her prepare for the two that she had today. Rory had been really stressed over them, they were her midterms in each class and didn't want to screw them up. Somehow Oxford seemed much more difficult then Yale even if they were at the same caliber.

"Long. Difficult. Draining. Hence the need to spend a little bit of time alone. Ella and Carter can be quite consuming."

Tristan laughed. "I know. Try adding Addison and Jasper to the mix."

"Wow. Are all four of them at your place?" Rory asked, knowing how insane the four alone could get.

"Don't forget Belle," Tristan told her.

"Man, I understand why you're not there. Where are the others?"

Tristan shrugged. "Who knows?"

"So I'm just an out from the party?" Rory asked with a smirk.

"You caught me," he said with a laugh.

"What ever am I going to do with you?" Rory teased him.

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" Tristan smirked down at her and Rory slapped his shoulder lightly—the sexual tension she had written her mother about ave a good day

earlier could be felt at that very moment.

**GGGGGG**

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore! Where are you? Don't hide from me!" Ella slammed their door behind her and waited for her roommate to appear. "RORY!" She screamed again. Again there was no answer. Ella began pacing while she waited for Rory to return.

A half hour later she was still pacing when the door opened. Rory entered while on her mobile but quickly ended the call when she saw how distraught her roommate was. "Ella? What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"I can't believe that you didn't tell me!"

_Ah, Tristan must have filled them all in on the details._ "I'm sorry. I really didn't want to make a big deal about it."

"You didn't want to tell me, your roommate, that your birthday was in two days and you didn't want to make a big deal about it? Come on Rory, I would have respected your wishes, we could have gone to dinner at the pub or something. And as far as not making a big deal about it, does Tristan know that? He's planning something you know."

"I do know," Rory told her. "No details or anything but I know that he's planning. He couldn't hide that much from me. I have no idea what's going on exactly, want to tell me?" She tried.

"Hell no!" Ella looked at Rory like she was crazy. "Just because I'm going doesn't mean I'm forgiving you for keeping this from me!"

Never before did Rory want to yell at someone as much as she wanted to yell at Ella. She knew the minute she told her roommate what was going on with her life that Ella would immediately feel awful and take it all back but Rory wasn't going to play that card. If the girl was going to have a problem with her for keeping things to herself then that was her issue. With that thought in mind Rory left the room and for the first time on her own headed for the pub. Happy to find that none of the group was there, she opened a tab at the bar and chose a booth in the back—nowhere near where they usually sat. This was the spot that Logan and his friends would have chosen. For some reason Rory was channeling them this evening. Wanting someone who wouldn't ask questions, wouldn't judge. She missed that about them more than anything.

"This seat taken?" Rory looked up to find Addison standing at the end of the table.

"Go ahead." She motioned to the side of the booth that was empty and he took a seat. "You're not calling the rest of the gang are you?" Rory had no interest in spending time with any of them right now—even Tristan wasn't on her list of people she could handle. Truthfully she simply wanted her mother.

"Nah, they don't know that I'm here and we don't _always_ do _everything _together." Rory snorted at that comment. "Okay, so we do spend a lot of time together but I don't live with any of them, I have a roommate that's not affiliated with the crew at all."

"Really?" She had been to Tim and Jasper's apartment and had forgotten that Addison lived somewhere different.

"My best friend and I have been living together for years. We have a separate set of friends from the ones you see me with."

"Really? So you're meeting them?" Rory asked unsure if she really wanted to meet a new group of people.

"Eli is meeting me here for a drink and then we're going to meet the others. We've known each other since high school."

"Where are you from?" It wasn't the first time Rory had thought about how little she knew about the rest of the group but it was the first time she was able to ask a question about it.

"Michigan believe it or not," he said.

"Really? You don't have an accent at all!"

"I've worked hard at that. My friends do though."

"Why are you all out here?"

"We didn't want to be another kid at Harvard or Yale or Columbia, no offense to you of course, so we decided to apply to Cambridge and Oxford as well; Oxford won."

"You were accepted to all of those schools?" Rory's eyes widened.

"Well, Columbia, Duke, and University of Michigan. You?"

"Harvard, Yale and Princeton."

"Impressive." Rory shrugged. "Do you want to meet Eli? He hangs out with us every once in a while."

"Why doesn't he hang out with the others? Tristan and Carter and all?"

Addison shrugged. "No reason really. We all get along and everything, just different circles. I met Carter and Tristan in a class freshman year and we clicked while Eli met other people on campus. We all have separate groups of friends, but it's always nice to be so far away from home yet have people who know me so well. I've known Eli since I was five."

"Wow. I can certainly appreciate that."

"That's what Tristan is for you, in some sense that is, isn't it?" He looked at her carefully.

"Yeah, you could say that. After the past year it's nice to have someone who knew me back when," Rory said softly.

"Understandable." Addison asked no more questions.

"Addy! How's it going? Who is this lovely lady?" A loud guy with a thick accent approached the booth and slid in next to Addison.

"Eli, meet one of my newest friends Rory Gilmore. Rory, my best friend Elliot Gardner."

"Nice to meet you," Elliot said while shaking her extended hand.

"Same here," Rory answered with a smile.

"What are you drinking?" He was eyeing her drink.

"Oh, this would be Guinness. Not my favorite _but_ doable."

"Blasphemy!" Rory looked shocked at his words and then started to laugh.

"Sorry," she got out a minute later. "You sounded like a friend of mine from Yale. He's Australian."

Eli nodded. "Not a fan of Guinness? How could that be?"

"Finn got me hooked on Foster's," Rory explained. "Among other drinks that is."

"Really?" He questioned. "Like what?"

"Um…well…he only let me drink so much but there's the red headed slut, Irish Coffee, Irish Car Bombs, Chocolate Martini's, though those were Steph's doing really, and Long Island Iced Tea."

"He _only _let you drink those?" Addison asked with wide eyes.

"Finn's an alcohol connoisseur. I was told I had to wait until I was legal for him to get me properly drunk," Rory explained to him.

"You two dated?" Addison asked. He needed to look out for Tristan. They all knew his attachment to his Mary and didn't want said girl to appear and lead him on.

Rory couldn't hold back her laughter. "Me and Finn?" Her laughter continued while the two friends just looked at each other—maybe she was more intoxicated then they originally thought. "I _definitely _did not date Finn, although I am inclined to think it would have been better to date him then his friend."

"Oh, so you dated his friend?" Eli pried.

Rory nodded. "Yup. I dated Logan Huntzberger for six months formally and a few before that informally."

"Informally?" Apparently when Rory Gilmore was drunk she would talk. Addison wondered if anyone else knew about this.

"The better word for it would be casual dating. Hey, don't you two have people to meet up with?" Rory realized that she was talking a bit too much about her former life and wanted to avoid it. She figured the best way to stop the conversation without Tristan here to do so was remind them of their plans.

"Shit Addy, we're going to be late! Marcy will kill me!" Elliot looked down at his watch and then over at his friend.

"Girlfriend?" Rory asked them.

Addison snorted. "If they'd ever wake up and realize that they have feelings for each other then yes. It's quite ridiculous, they act like a couple already; she has him whipped."

"We do not!" Eli protested. "Come on, let's get going."

"Of course, wouldn't want the little woman to be worried." Addison teased his friend as they stood and turned towards her. "It was nice to talk to you without anyone else around Rory Gilmore," he said to her, "you're a pretty cool girl. We'll have fun this weekend."

"This weekend?" Eli asked looking at the two of them.

"Tristan is doing something for my birthday, no one will tell me what," she said with a pout. "You and your friends should all come. I'd give you the details but I really don't have them. I'm sure Addison does and will tell you."

"Are you sure?" He was a little surprised at her invitation since they barely knew each other and she didn't know any of the others.

"If the Guinness bond is anything like the Foster's bond Finn would skin me alive for _not_ inviting you and your friends. Besides, the more the merrier, right?" She had no idea who Tristan would invite to her party besides eight that they usually hung out with.

"Well the bond of Guinness is a strong one, so with that argument we'll be more than happy to attend your birthday celebration. How old?" He asked with a smile.

"21."

"This is going to be good! Get excited!" Elliot had a huge grin on his face that made Rory slightly nervous.

"I'll see you this weekend, have fun tonight." Addison said with a smile.

"Have a good time tonight," she told him with a smile and a wave as they turned and left the pub.

Rory stayed at the pub for four and a half hours longer before she got fed up with every male in the place hitting on her. Asking Jonah, the bartender, to call her a cab, Rory managed to get her very drunk self to Tristan's room. She was walking through the door, or her version of walking by that time, when yet another sloshed British young man decided to hit on her.

"Excuse me?" She turned around when she heard two or three guys snickering in her direction. "Did you say something?"

"Pardon?" One of the boys, the one that seemed the most sober, answered for the group.

"You're looking at me with that sly smile on your face and laughing, after muttering something as you passed me by. There is obviously something about me that has peaked your interest, care to share so I can enjoy it as well? After all, what's the fun in hitting on someone if they can't hear you?" Even drunk Rory was able to pull coherent sentences together.

"Really…it wasn't anything, my friend's just a little sloshed tonight and…"

"Right." She turned back to the door but once again heard their voices, this time loud enough for her to pick up the entire sentence.

"Uptight, frigid bitch," one said to the others.

"Are you serious?" Rory whirled around on her heels, a move she had perfected while intoxicated by hanging out with Stephanie, and stared at the boys.

"What is your problem tonight?" A different one of the trio asked her with apparent annoyance.

"I don't have a problem, it appears that you do. With me. And I don't appreciate it, nor do I deserve it. I'm not some piece of meat for you to drool over you know." She was having flashbacks to the first time she met Logan, Colin and Finn.

"You seriously need to relax, it's university you know. You're supposed to have fun, not be a frigid bitch."

"There you go again with those words! They're fighting words you know."

"Are you serious? You really think we'd fight a girl?"

"You obviously think you can disrespect one; what are you afraid of? I'll manage to make you all look like the little boys you are?"

"Rory?" A male voice came from behind her antagonizers.

_Damn it!_ "Carter?" Rory shifted her eyes to briefly look at him over one of the guys' shoulders and saw that he was alone immediately wondering where Ella was. The two seemed to be attached at the hip.

"What's going on over here?" He moved from next to the guys, who he recognized from a class, to stand next to Rory. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was drunk.

"I was on my way to see Tristan when these three fine British boys decided to start hitting on me," Rory explained.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course. I'm almost 21, I can handle myself you know."

He could see her defensive side start to appear once again and decided to back down. "I'm sure you can hon. Why don't you go on and find Tristan, I think he was looking for you earlier, I'll talk to these guys."

Rory looked at him carefully before glaring one last time at the others and finally walking through the doors of Tristan's dorm.

"Rory! Good to see you!" Katie opened the door to the room and let her in. She could see everyone minus Carter and Addison sitting around the living room. They were currently watching a movie but she could tell that they had been drinking. Ignoring Ella and smiling at the others she placed herself on Tristan's lap relaxing once his arms wrapped around her.

"What have you been up to tonight, missy?" Abby asked as she watched Rory's body relax and could practically feel the other girl's defenses drop. Ella had told them about their fight and they had each been worried although Tristan told them time and again not to be. He told them she wouldn't go anywhere without calling him before she left or once she got there, but no one would believe him.

"Out," Rory said with a shrug. She didn't feel that she owed any of them an explanation.

"Drinking much?" Tristan asked with a playful smile. He wasn't sure if the others had picked up on it but he could smell both her breath and clothes and knew she had been at the pub.

Rory laughed, taking Tristan's comment the way he meant it to be. "Just a little bit. Jonah seems to like me."

"You're on a first name basis with him?" Belle asked somewhat surprised. Their favorite bartender usually took some time to warm up to people.

Rory shrugged. "He felt bad for me, the stupid guys at the pub wouldn't leave me alone. I moved to the bar and we became friends." Though she may have missed the look on Tristan's face while she was speaking the others all saw it.

"Guys were hitting on you?" He asked her.

"Yeah. Obnoxious buggers too!" She shook her head with disgust. "Not to mention the ones I met on the way inside."

"Excuse me?" Tristan was fuming, he had no idea how Rory wasn't picking up on his body language.

Before she could answer Carter walked through the door. "What took you so long?" Ella asked him. He had left over 15 minutes ago saying he'd be back shortly. "What happened to your hand?

Rory slid off of Tristan's lap, though he tried to keep her still, and walked over to Carter. "Tell me you didn't…"

"Didn't what?" Ella asked while she inspected his hand and then followed the looks being exchanged between the two.

"Umm…" Rory knew that she was treading on thin ice with her roommate and a quick look at Tristan told her he wasn't happy with whatever was going to be said next.

"I had to Rory. It only got worse." Carter knew he'd regret the words but he said them anyway.

"_What_ only got worse?" Tristan was now standing next to Rory watching Carter intensely.

Carter sighed and gave Rory an apologetic look before continuing. "I was on my way back in when I saw Rory in a heated conversation with these three guys. It was obvious that the four of them were drunk and I arrived just as she finished saying 'they're fighting words you know." Tristan groaned. "Exactly," Carter said as he looked at his best friend. "So I sent her inside and finished the conversation with the boys. Unfortunately they decided that things needed to get unpleasant. They said a few things I didn't like so I hit them; they were a little too sloshed to fight back and I got rid of them quickly but that's what happened."

Tristan looked from Carter to Rory and back to Carter. "Thanks man." Carter nodded and watched as Rory moved towards the kitchenette. Tristan nodded at his friend once more before following Rory. "Everything okay Mare?"

"Just fine Tris," she said while concentrating on making her coffee.

"Why don't I believe you?" He asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Don't know," she said with a shrug. In all honesty Rory was a little aggravated. She was sick of having problems. She wanted things to just be fine. She wanted to have her mother as her best friend, be going home for movie nights and Luke's every chance she could, she wanted to be normal and not feel like a charity case. Rory couldn't stand the feeling that Tristan was hanging around her because she had so many problems. He should have a life besides taking care of her. "You know what," she said turning around suddenly, "I think I'm going to go home."

"Are you sure about that?" It wasn't like Rory to start making coffee and leave before she even had a cup to take along with her. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"That's okay. You all were having a good time tonight. Continue drinking and watching your movie and all. I'll be fine, I'm just a little tipsy. I'll go home and sleep and avoid the sun tomorrow. No big deal. Good night Tris." Rory leaned forward and kissed his cheek before walking through the common room and leaving the dorm all together.

"What just happened?" Tim asked as Tristan came back into the common room staring at the now closed door.

"I have no idea," he said slowly and softly. "She just said she wanted to go home, get sleep and avoid the sun tomorrow. What happened?" He turned to Carter.

"No idea," he said with a shrug.

**GGGG**

Rory continued back to her room, happy that no one came after her and no one bothered her along the route. When she finally got herself into pajamas and into her bed Rory laid there for two hours before she decided that she couldn't sleep. Picking up the phone she took a deep breath as she waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, my name is Rory Gilmore. I need someone to pick me up from Oxford as soon as possible, my grandparents have an account."

"Of course Ms. Gilmore. Where will you need to be taken this morning?"

Rory looked at the clock with shock, realizing that it was almost four o'clock in the morning. "London; the apartment my family has there. You should have the address on file."

"Very well. Someone will be by your residence within 15 minutes."

"Thank you." Rory hung up the phone and attempted to relax into the bed while she waited. She felt no need to pack since there were a few things already in the apartment and she could always go shopping. Taking a look at the clock she headed for the spot she expected to be picked up from while making another phone call.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice answered.

"Daddy? Are you sleeping?" Rory instantly felt badly. She expected that her father would have been awake, unless she calculated the time difference incorrectly. Then she remembered that it was a weeknight and he had probably been asleep for quite some time. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Ror? Is that you?"

"Yeah." She sounded a little embarrassed and had no idea why. "We can talk later, go back to bed."

"No, no, it's okay kiddo. What's up?" Chris had turned on a bedside lamp and was sitting up concern for his oldest daughter coursing through him. "Is everything okay?

Rory shrugged and realized her father couldn't see her before she noticed the car stopped in front of her. Smiling at the man who opened the door and smiled at her in return, she slid into the back seat and continued speaking with her father. "Don't know." Her voice came out like that of a five-year-old.

Chris was instantly reminded of his youngest daughter when Rory answered. "What's going on?"

"Don't know."

He laughed. Only a Lorelai would call this late, wake him up and then decide not to say anything. "Are you okay?"

"Don't know."

"Miss your mom?" He knew where it was going. Strange enough he had had a similar conversation with Lorelai earlier this week. Rory's birthday was going to be difficult for both of them.

"Yeah." Her voice was soft and somewhat weak.

"What are you doing for your birthday?" He had no comforting words for her, the two of them needed to work everything out for themselves, it wasn't his place to interfere.

"Tristan was planning something…"

"Was?"

"I bailed on everyone tonight; I'm on my way to London now actually. I'll call him in the morning but I'm not sure if he'll be upset with me for leaving. I don't know anything about the plans either."

"I'm sure it'll be okay. You could get back to school pretty quickly if you needed to, couldn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then don't worry about it. Everyone needs some time to themselves." He was trying.

"I know that." As the tears rolled down her face softly her voice started to get weaker.

"I'm coming out there," he told her suddenly.

"What?"

"I'll leave your sister with my mother and I'm coming out for your birthday. I'll take the first flight tomorrow, cost is not an issue, and I'll spend the weekend with you. We'll do whatever you want; this party Tristan is throwing, or a show—anything you want. We can even go to Europe."

"Daddy you don't have to…"

"Rory, let me be your father. Please, for once let me do this for you."

She didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected this when she called him-she had just needed a familiar voice. "Okay."

"Good. Now I'll let you know what my plans are. Don't leave London without me," Chris instructed.

"I don't think you have to worry about that," she said with a strained laugh.

"I love you kiddo, I'll see you soon, okay?"

"I love you too Daddy."


	10. They Say It's Your Birthday

**Author's Note:** Well, it's long…but it's really good. I had fun writing it—for many different reasons I had fun writing it. I hope you like it as much as I do. Enjoy!

**GGGGGGGGGG**

**Chapter 10: They Say It's Your Birthday**

He pounced on the phone the second it began ringing. "Hello?" Rory had been unreachable since she left his apartment. They had all decided not to follow her and give her time to relax. Ella had called from the room reporting that she wasn't there and no one could reach her on her cell. What was worse was that none of her clothes or other personal items were missing. Tristan had been staring at his cell phone all morning waiting for her call. This was not the way he was expecting this weekend to go…at all.

"I'm sorry." Her soft voice came through the lines and Tristan managed to relax.

"It's okay. Are you okay? Where are you? I'm worried…we're all worried," he told her.

"I'm sorry, I just…I couldn't…I'm in London." She finally finished her statement and Tristan was left wondering what she was trying to say besides where she was. It sounded as if Rory wanted to tell him more about what had happened last night.

"What are you doing there?" He had been planning on taking her there later, only without her knowing. The party was going to be there after all.

"I just needed to get away from campus, this was the only place I had to come to."

"You sure you're okay?" He asked her again. Tristan couldn't pinpoint it but he knew that something was wrong. She didn't sound right; even the slightly modified version of Rory he was beginning to learn over the past week didn't seem to be present in this conversation. She was unusually distracted.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I didn't want you to worry. When do I need to be back? I don't want to ruin your plans. I still can't believe you planned anything, but I'm not going to ruin it."

He sighed and couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry about it. I was planning on bringing you into London anyway, I'll just meet you there." He didn't want to give away the location of the party but he also didn't want her to feel badly about disappearing this morning. As long as she was okay, that's what mattered.

"Really?" Rory felt ridiculous as she realized how excited she was over the mere thought of Tristan coming to see her. It wasn't that she wanted him to chase after her, she could happily wait for her father to show up and then take him back to school with her, but Rory just wanted to see him Tristan. He was her rock for the moment and she was stupid enough to leave him behind. "You're okay doing that?"

"Of course Mare, we were going to leave later tonight anyway, so I'll just come a few hours early. If that's okay of course." Tristan didn't know why he sounded so reluctant to be assertive in the situation and just say that he was going to show up but he didn't want to put Rory in an awkward situation. Things were already overflowing with sexual tension and he didn't want to make them worse; they weren't ready for anything more than friendship to happen, _she_ wasn't ready for anything more and _he_ wouldn't push her.

"Of course it is." She didn't know if she wanted to tell Tristan that her father was coming into town. Rory didn't want to take him off guard but she also wanted to surprise him. Second to her mom making an appearance and them making up, her father visiting from the States was the best birthday present. She would be perfectly satisfied spending her birthday with Tristan and her father but she would never disappoint Tristan like that. There was a tone that alerted Rory to another caller. "Tris, it's call waiting, hang on a minute?"

"Of course." He was curious to know who was calling her but figured it could very well be her grandparents. As he waited for her return to the phone he began to gather his clothes and get ready to leave for London as soon as possible.

--

"Hello?" Rory had switched lines.

"Hey kiddo, I'm here."

"Already?" It felt like she had spoken to her father mere minutes ago but when she looked at the clock Rory realized that it was several hours ago. He must have pushed to get on the first flight. She wondered how he did it.

"Oh yeah, well I couldn't get a commercial flight so I chartered a plane."

"Dad!" She couldn't believe that he would do something like that. As much as she wanted to see him Rory never thought he would spend all that money to get to her.

"What? Is it wrong for me to spend a little money to see my daughter on her 21st birthday?"

"Of course not, I'm glad that you're here. Thank you."

"No thanks needed. Anyway, I was just calling to let you know that I was here and I'm going to get in a car and head to your apartment." He was excited to see her and couldn't hide it.

"Okay Daddy, I'll see you in a little while." She clicked the phone back to return to her conversation with Tristan. "Tris?"

"Everything okay?" He asked her only slightly concerned.

"Everything's just fine. When are you going to be here?" Knowing that her father was around the corner she wanted Tristan to be there as well.

"Anxious to see me Mary?" Tristan teased her and she couldn't help but feel better.

"Always," she teased him back.

"I'll call you when I'm closer, okay?" He was happy that she was excited to see him. Rory may have said it in a teasing tone but he knew that she wanted him there.

"Sounds good. I'll see you in a little while, be safe."

"You too Mar, you too." Tristan smiled as he hung up the phone and left his room for the driver he was sure was waiting for him.

**GGGGG**

For the fifth time in the last half hour Rory looked at her watch. Only a minute had gone by since she looked the last time but she was extremely anxious…and nervous. Her father was only minutes away, she was dying to see him, and she didn't think Tristan would be far behind. She was beginning to wonder if Christopher had gotten stuck in traffic when there was a knock on the door. Placing her mug on the coffee table with a thud Rory shrieked and ran to the door, throwing it open with a smile on her face. Without missing a beat she threw herself into her father's arms and held on tight. It was of no interest to Rory that they were in the doorway and she had pushed him back far enough to be in the hallway—she did have the entire floor to herself after all. Instead of worrying about what someone else may think she concentrated on the safe and familiar feeling of her father's arms around her.

"Happy to see me kiddo?" Chris asked her as he kept her wrapped in his arms as long as she needed it. It was comforting to see her after all these months.

"You don't even know," Rory whispered back to him. She pulled back slightly and looked at her father before moving herself back into his arms. Rory was so caught up in her father and the familiar, yet unfamiliar, feeling that she didn't notice the appearance of someone else.

Tristan thought about calling Rory when he got closer to the apartment building but thought it would be better to surprise her. She hadn't mentioned going out so he figured she would be around and he would have no problem getting past Nigel at the door. It was surprise, however, when he walked off the elevator to see Rory in the arms of another man. Taller then she was, blonde hair, and they were wrapped tightly around each other. He felt a surge of jealously and possession run through him and tried to shrug it off. They had no obligation to each other besides friendship but since he was coming this afternoon Tristan figured Rory would have told him if she was expecting someone else. The guy, at least from behind, didn't look like someone on campus, which means he came from The States. That meant that she had to have known he was coming and neglected to tell him about it.

As he got closer down the hall Tristan felt more and more like he was intruding on something extremely private. Why he felt that way Tristan didn't understand but he did. Unable to just stand in the hall any longer he cleared his throat and smiled when he saw Rory jump. "Sorry Mary, didn't mean to scare you."

Rory heard the familiar sound of Tristan clearing his throat while she was wrapped in her father's hug. Without detaching herself from him she moved her head to smile in his direction. "You're here." The smile was both on her face and in her voice.

"Sorry I didn't call first, I didn't realize you had…company." Tristan felt extremely awkward standing in the hallway like that—it didn't matter that there would be no one else on the floor besides then.

"It's not a big deal, come on inside, we can do introductions there. Anyone else want some coffee?" Rory moved away from her father but kept a hold of his hand as she led the pair into her apartment. Tristan closed the door behind him and looked over to see Rory pouring the other gentleman a cup of coffee as well as one for him.

"Thanks," he said with a smile as he sat on a bar stool next to the other man. Tristan noticed that he looked familiar but couldn't place the face.

Rory nodded at the men sitting in front of her. They looked equally uncomfortable and she couldn't help but smile. "I guess introductions are in order now, aren't they? Dad," she looked at Christopher, "this is my best friend Tristan DuGrey. Tristan, this is my father Christopher Hayden. He decided to come and visit last minute," she explained while holding back the laughter from the relieved look on his face; a face that immediately became nervous when he realized exactly who the man sitting next to him was.

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Tristan shook Christopher's hand, trying his hardest to smile and hide his nervousness.

"You as well Tristan, and please, call my Chris." He smiled at the younger man and took a sip of the coffee his daughter had passed him. "If there's one thing about my Gilmore girls it's that they sure know how to make a good cup of coffee!" Chris exclaimed after he tasted the brew. "Where is this from?"

"My favorite café in France; I have it shipped over."

Chris laughed. "You certainly have a way with coffee suppliers, don't you?'

"What can I say? I am my moth—" She stopped in the middle of her sentence and turned away. "I'll be back in a minute." Without looking at either of them Rory moved away from the kitchen and into the room she had called her own since the summer.

"So how's she really doing?" Chris turned to Tristan with concern written on his features. Rory obviously wasn't telling him how things were really going and something told him she wasn't telling anyone, but Tristan did spend the greatest amount of time with her.

"She doesn't talk about it all that often, but I can tell she's not doing well. She misses Lorelai. A lot. She wasn't sleeping for a chunk of the semester either; we started sleeping, and I stress the world sleeping, together when I came here with her for a weekend and she told me what was going on. Rory may like to physically be alone so she won't have to put up a front, but she doesn't like to be alone."

Chris nodded as he thought about what the younger man was saying. "Sounds like Rory. I wish there was something I could do to help. Between talking with her, Lorelai and the Gilmores I have pieced together the story. I'm surprised over Lorelai's reaction though I do understand it. Lore has put a lot of indirect pressure on Rory her entire life. Rory was supposed to be everything that Lorelai never was and never got the chance to be. That's not to say that Lorelai isn't a wonderful woman but she wanted so much more for her daughter. She deems any diversion from the perfect track that Rory's on unacceptable; unfortunately Rory snapped and Lorelai was faced with a tough decision. I'm not saying she reacted poorly I just wouldn't have expected her and Rory to cut each other off completely. It's driving Lorelai crazy—I spoke with her the other day. She misses her best friend."

"So does Rory. She talks in her sleep you know. Sometimes it's as simple as calling out for her mom and other times I can tell that she's arguing with someone in her dream. I never ask her about them or wake her up from them, I don't want to make things worse. Hopefully she knows that I'm here for her. She didn't even want to celebrate her birthday; she and Lorelai had some elaborate plans for Atlantic City." Tristan figured being honest with Christopher would be best. He was Rory's father after all, and obviously cared about her if he came out all this way without prior notice. Tristan thought about how lucky Rory was to have parents who really did care about her, not to mention being Luke's surrogate daughter. It may be true that Chris wasn't there for her as she was growing up but he cared, that was never a lie.

"I think she knows that. I've talked to her three different times this week—I'm worried about her. But whenever she talks about you the conversation has a much lighter tone. You're being really patient with her, it'll pay off you know."

"That's not why I'm doing this," Tristan answered immediately. He didn't want Chris thinking he was being this way with the hopes that Rory would turn to him and want to be more than friends. This wasn't about his feelings towards her, his need for them to be in a relationship. This was about her, making her better, helping her collect her life together again.

"I didn't mean to imply that. If I thought otherwise the few minutes I've seen you two together already would change my opinion. You care about her, don't want her to get hurt, you want to help her."

Tristan nodded in agreement with Chris' words. "You know, when we were here last she told me that she always used to ask Lorelai if she would put her back together again if she broke into a million pieces; Lorelai always said that she would but now…"

"Lorelai has let her down more than she realizes, huh?" Chris looked at the young man and saw his own expression mirrored in his eyes. There was a lot more going on with both Rory and Lorelai then he originally thought, a lot of pain that would take a while to ease. Chris had a feeling Lorelai had no idea how badly her daughter was hurting; both from her own words and the ramifications of Rory's own decisions. "I guess coming here was the best thing she could possibly do, no matter how much it hurt everyone back home. Lorelai's devastated that Rory ran so far away."

"You can't blame Rory for leaving though," Tristan defended. "Everything in her life had gone off course and there was no one there to catch her. No one offered her a comforting voice, a shoulder to cry on. There wasn't one accepting or understanding soft voice in her world. She had a huge fight with Lorelai, her grandmother tried throwing her into the D.A.R. and Logan, well it sounds like her tried but it was just too much for him to handle. When she realized that she couldn't stay with her grandparents without becoming the person Lorelai loathed the most AND that she couldn't return to Yale, she looked for a better option."

"I don't blame her for leaving; hell I don't even blame her for leaving me out of the situation all together, but I wish I could have done _something_. I wish I could have been there for her. I've let her down most of her life—for once I wanted to really be her father. I'm reforming with Gigi but Rory deserves my parenting skills, or lack thereof as well, even if it is 21 years too late." Chris had been thinking a lot about this predicament. He wanted to build some kind of relationship with his oldest daughter; he could make things better with his youngest but he needed to make a lot up to Rory. This was one way he could start. He wasn't going to judge or yell or scream. He was going to be a shoulder to cry on, a sounding board, and a voice to offer support and advice. If she wanted to take time off, move out of the country, live away from her mother he would be there to make sure that she was okay.

"It's never too late to let your kid know you care," Tristan said softly. "It's better then letting them go through their entire life without thinking they're a burden." He was thinking more of his own life than Rory's. Here was a man that got his girlfriend pregnant when they were 16 years-old and had very little to do with his baby girl's entire life but wanted to change that. He flew across an ocean on a second's notice because he knew that she needed him. If his father, who was in his 20s, married and working when Tristan was born, could show even an ounce of that kind of concern it would be a miracle. The only good thing his father had done for him was sending him to military school.

"I hope so," Chris said softly. He knew what Tristan was thinking about. He knew what kind of life society children led. His own parents, particularly his father hadn't been much better. Old, rich, white-men rarely knew how to show affection, particularly if it was to a male child. It was something that was carried on from generation to generation, but Chris was going to make sure it stopped with him. Granted he had no sons, but he wouldn't let son-in-law's or grandson's feel like they were unloved. It's just as important to show a little boy affection as it is for a little girl. Society sucked. "I hope being here this weekend will help her."

"It will," Tristan affirmed. "I'm throwing her a big gathering tomorrow including another surprise as well. The party isn't a surprise, little sneak found out about that, and she didn't know it was in London until this morning when she called and told me she was already down here, but I'm not giving any other information. It's tomorrow night, I've kept it quiet this long, I can do so for a little longer."

"She'll love it," Chris said. "Rory loves surprises. The closer you get to the actual the event the antsier she'll get. She's like a little kid at Disney World waiting on line to meet Mickey Mouse for the first time. It's annoying yet endearing at the same time."

Tristan laughed. "Is it awful I'm actually looking forward to it? Seeing her that happy and excited and all?"

"Nope. There's nothing wrong with that at all. I share the same feeling."

The two men shared a smile unaware of Rory watching them from the doorway of her room, a smile on her own face. She had no idea what they were talking about but as she watched the conversation had gone from relaxed to serious to relaxed again. She was relieved that the two most important men in her life were getting along. If only things went as well when Tristan met Luke…

**GGGGGGG**

"Are you almost ready?" Tristan called out from the living room. "If we don't leave in the next five minutes we're going to be late for your own birthday party!" He shared a laugh with Chris, who now knew the full plans for the evening's activities.

The trio had spent the entire day wandering around London. Tristan and Rory took Christopher to their favorite bookstore and afterwards Chris took them to a few of his favorite spots. Both men managed to spoil Rory under her protests using the excuse that you only turn 21 once. Tristan had decided they would start the party at midnight, play like true Americans. There was a smaller gathering planned for this evening and something a little bit bigger planned for her actual birthday evening. She was going to have fun even if it wasn't what she had been planning since she was five-years-old.

Chris had been right about Rory's attitude. The later in the afternoon it got the more anxious she became to find out what Tristan had planned. She had been bugging him all day but Tristan refused to let anything slip. He just told her time and time again that she knew something was happening and what city it was taking place in—that was more than enough. Truthfully, he had no interest in ruining the biggest surprise. It was something he decided on putting together at the last minute and thought that she would enjoy it but wasn't totally sure of her reaction. Rory would either love him by the end of the night or want to strangle him; he was hoping for the former. The only other thing he would tell her about the evening was what to wear; something casual. She had yelled at him for a good half hour about how that meant absolutely nothing to her. She needed more details but he refused. Tristan knew her first inkling was to call her mother and asked for advice but that didn't happen. Instead she dragged both him and Christopher into a million stores all over the city trying on absolutely everything before he relented and approved of an outfit she picked out from Top Shop.

"Mary, we're really going to be late!" He looked down at his watch to see it was 11:35pm. They would make it there with a minute or two to spare, he really wanted to be there at midnight. They would stay until 4:30am; he had arranged it with the owner of the bar to keep it open a little bit longer for him since it was her birthday at 4:03am. The owner had thought the idea was cute and agreed.

"Sorry, sorry. Geez, you make me wait all day and now you're rushing me. Men!" Rory came out of her room with a clutch underneath her arm and her head titled to the side as she worked on placing the earring back in its proper position.

Tristan stared at her. Somehow the nice outfit they had decided on at Top Shop had been transformed into something else. She looked even more amazing then five hours ago when they actually bought it. He wondered what she had done in that bathroom for so long but decided against saying anything. "Come on almost birthday girl, we're going to be late!" He motioned for her to lead the way, and she did, but not before kissing his cheek and placing her arm through her father's.

"Are you going to tell me _anything_?" Rory asked as they were driving to the location.

"Now Mary, I've told you nothing all day, why would I ruin things so close to the actual moment?"

Rory gave him her best Bambi eyes accompanied with pouting lips. "Cause you love me?"

"I'm not debating that, but for once I'm not letting those eyes and that lip get to me."

"You've got more strength then I do," Chris told him. "I give into them every time. I'm just glad Gigi hasn't learned about them yet."

Rory laughed. "Don't worry Daddy, I'll make sure to teach her." Chris would have said something else but the car stopped. "Are we here?" Rory squealed with excitement.

"No, we're not, I just needed to make a stop," Tristan told her. He paused for a moment and started to laugh when he saw the pout return along with a sour look on her face. "Come on Mary, would I really be _that_ mean?"

"Yes!" She said adamantly. The door opened a moment later and Tristan got out first, helping Rory out of the car, followed by Christopher.

"Happy Birthday Miss Rory," Toby said with a smile.

"Thanks Toby."

"Enjoy your evening. Just call when you're ready Mister Tristan."

"I will Toby, thanks for everything." Tristan smiled at the older man and took Rory's hand in his own. "Come on Mar, your public awaits." He smiled at her and then Chris, nodding his head in thanks when the older man opened the door to the bar for them to walk through first.

"You're here!" Ella shrieked when the trio arrived at the table. She instantly stood up and pulled Rory away from Tristan giving her a big hug. "Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks." Rory smiled at her roommate wondering where the sudden change of attitude came from. She then realized that the others had probably started drinking already. There were rounds of Happy Birthday's from everyone and a "private" smile with Addison. No one knew about their conversation at the pub the other night. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my father, Christopher Hayden. Dad, these are some friends from school; Addison, Belle, Katie, Abby, Tim, Jasper, Carter and Ella. Ella is my roommate." Rory pointed to each individual as she said their name and they all either waved or shook Chris' hand.

"We didn't know you were coming," Ella said to Chris.

"Oh, it was a last minute decision. I got into yesterday afternoon. Decided I couldn't be away from my little girl on her 21st birthday."

Rory looked at her father and laughed. "Because it's so different from the other 20 years that you weren't around for?"

"Hey! I resent that! I was around for some of them!"

"Sure Dad, keep telling yourself that." Rory grinned at him before reaching over to hug him. "Okay, so you didn't miss _all_ of them, probably about 15 or so."

"Okay, that's a more accurate description," Chris relented. His attention was drawn away when he heard Tim and Jasper start talking about motorcycles and Rory let them be, happy that her father was fitting in with her friends. It always helped to have parents that were so young.

"Addy," Rory started, laughing when he scrunched up his face, "are the others coming tonight?" She remembered inviting his other fiends and did hope that they were still planning on coming this evening.

"Others?" Tristan looked back and forth between his friends.

"Oh, I ran into Addy and his friend Eli. I invited all the Michigan natives to the big event, figured they would get details from someone besides me since I knew nothing."

"They're coming; Eli's really excited about it." Addison smiled at her. "Think you could not call me Addy though?"

Rory's eyes lit up with amusement. "Sorry, I don't think that's possible. It's too much fun." She was laughing at him now. "Where are they?"

"Who?" He asked looking around.

"Your friends."

"Oh, they won't be here until later." He saw Rory looking at her watch and laughed. "You didn't tell her?" He asked Tristan.

"Tell me what exactly?" Rory turned her attention to Tristan as well.

"Oh, it's nothing really. This just isn't the main event."

"What?"

"Don't worry about it." He moved his eyes back to the door, which he had been watching almost from the moment they sat down. It was, of course, the moment that his eyes drifted from the door that the person he had been waiting for appeared.

"The Australian's here, let the fun begin!" The voice rang out through the bar and caught the attention of many of the patrons.

Rory had been in a conversation with Belle and Katie when she heard the voice and stopped in the middle of her sentence. There was no way that he could be here. _Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world …_ she thought to herself.

"Come on now Reporter Girl, you can't ignore someone as exotic as I am. I flew all the way here, my arms are tired and the alcohol is starting to wear off!" His voice was getting louder as he got closer. People all over the bar were staring at both of them wondering what in the world was going on.

Rory looked first at Belle and Katie who were staring at her curiously, then at her father who had much of the same look on his face and finally at Tristan who was looking at her nervously. He seemed to fear she wouldn't like what was going on and that's when she knew; she knew that he had planned for Finn to come here tonight. Whoever had been talking to him, whatever she had been saying, he realized that she missed people from home, particularly Finn, and got him to come here. A smile graced her features as she pushed her chair back from the table so hard that it fell and ran over to Finn. She was met with open arms as she crushed herself into his embrace. "Finny!"

She could feel him cringe at the name and smiled into his chest. "Hey doll, how are you?" Finn had been surprised to get a message on his mobile phone a week ago from one Tristan DuGrey. He would have ignored the message as a wrong number, seeming that the male voice sounded a little unsure of himself, but then it mentioned Rory Gilmore and he found it important to call the man back. Ever since Rory and Logan broke up they had been worried about Logan and even more concerned about Rory. It had taken many weeks of prying and attending socialite gatherings before they discovered she had transferred to Oxford for at least the rest of the year. No one had any idea if she was coming back or even wanted to hear from them since she left without a word. They had considered her a friend, not just Logan's girlfriend, and thought she felt the same way. Colin and Steph had wanted to come along with him, but Logan was going to be around and no one wanted to tip him off. It would be better for Rory if Logan didn't appear; he was toying with the idea of surprising her in London anyway but no one thought doing so on her birthday was a good idea.

"Happy to see you," she said while pulling back to peruse his features as well as give him a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"You've got a pretty good guy over there, Reporter Girl. I'd think about keeping him," Finn whispered back. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks for coming out here Finn. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you." Rory moved forward to hug him again, happy to be with yet another familiar person.

"Why don't you tell me over a drink? It's been about an hour since I've had any alcohol and…"

"Well now, we can't have that now can we? Let's go, shall we?"

"Now kitten, I believe that you are ready for your next lesson from the Finn Morgan school of liquor…"

Tristan sat back in his chair and watched as Rory greeted her friend and led him over to the bar. Within a minute he had ordered them several drinks and they only touched two, the ones that were obviously beer, while he seemed to be holding a serious discussion about whatever was in front of them. Even the bartender was standing there listening. Deciding that he wanted to meet the infamous Finn and find out what he was saying to make Rory laugh like that Tristan crossed the bar so he was standing behind her but was unnoticed.

"Now love, this would be Colin's drink of choice. Personally I think he's preparing himself for his stuffy lawyer days, either that or his father started him out early." Rory laughed at Finn's comments and continued to stare at the drinks in his hand. "On the rocks," he motioned to the glass in his left hand, "or sour," he motioned to the drink in his right hand. "On the rocks first." He handed the drink to her and grinned. "One sip love, you can do it."

"Finn!" Rory sounded like she wanted to protest but it didn't happen. She took the glass from him and with a few prodding words finished it. "Gah! How does Colin drink that crap?"

"Don't let him hear you talking about his beloved whiskey like that. But it certainly explains a lot about him, doesn't it?" Finn wagged his eyebrows at her and Rory couldn't help laughing. "Now, try the whiskey sour." He handed her the other glass and watched. "A bit better, no?"

"Whiskey on the rocks is a little intense," Tristan said, announcing his presence. He wrapped an arm around Rory's waist and kissed her cheek. "Having fun?" He nodded towards the empty glasses that were piling up next to her on the bar.

"Of course," she answered him with a smile and reached for the beer that was next to her. "You know, drinking Foster's with anyone else just isn't the same. Not that anyone out here drinks it, they much rather prefer Guinness." Rory made a face as she spoke to Finn and the Aussie laughed.

"They're crazy kitten! You know the good stuff, remember that! And of course it's more fun with me around!" Finn laughed at her and threw back another shot. "Now, let's talk tequila…"

Tristan stood by Rory's side completely amused by Finn's antics. He seemed like a good guy and Tristan was happy that he actually invited him. "You going to introduce me Mare?" He whispered in her ear as Finn was talking with the bartender.

"Oh! I'm sorry! So rude! What would my grandmother think?"

Finn turned around at her words and smiled. "That you're acting completely immature and unladylike. She wouldn't approve at all. Probably throw another one of those parties to auction you off to someone respectable. We all know how well the last one worked out." He noticed the expression on Rory's face change and immediately felt bad. "Oh love, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's okay Finn, don't worry about it. You're probably right about my grandmother however."

"Hey! You don't think she'd approve of me?" Tristan asked, a disappointed and shocked look on his face.

Rory laughed at his antics. "You're corrupting me further, are you not?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well…you are my Mary after all, it's pretty hard _not_ to corrupt you," Tristan teased her with a grin, tightening his arm around her waist in a sideways hug.

Rory shook her head at him. "Finn I'd like you to meet Tristan DuGrey. Tristan this is one of the most interesting characters you'll probably meet in your entire life, Finn Morgan."

The two men stared at each other and then smiled, each happy that the other was making Rory happy. "Nice to meet you, thanks for coming." Tristan held out his hand.

"You too mate. Thanks for tracking me down. We were all bummed at the idea of missing Reporter Girl's 21st."

"Reporter Girl?" "Bummed?" Tristan and Rory asked him at the same time.

Finn raised his brows at Rory and answered Tristan. "She and Logan met at the paper; we met her when she was covering an event we were at _for_ the paper. From that moment on she was dubbed Reporter Girl."

"When did you learn the word bummed?" Rory asked when Finn finished answering Tristan's question.

Finn shrugged. "Stupid boarding school. Now," he noticed that the bartender had set down the next drink, "I know I said tequila, but I'm thinking a little SoCo and lime."

"Good choice," Tristan added.

"Glad you approve." Finn handed both him and Rory a shot. "To Rory."

"To Rory," Tristan repeated before they clinked glasses and swallowed the shots.

"Now let's go, my father's waiting!" Rory took the hand of each of the men she was with and led them back to the table. Someone had pulled a chair over for Finn and she sat down in between them. Immediately she thought of how she'd like to be sitting next to her father but decided not to say anything. "Everyone this is Finn Morgan, a friend from Yale. Finn, next to you is my father, Christopher, and the others are new friends from Oxford."

Hellos were exchanged before Finn demanded that they all started to seriously drink. Apparently they were all amateurs.

"He's a lot like Eli," Addison commented some time later.

"He is," Rory agreed. "That's what I thought when I first met Eli. It's what made me invite him and the rest of your friends for tomorrow night."

"I can understand that," Addison said with a smile and a nod of his head.

"It was nice of you to invite them all." Tristan added in.

"Though it would be fun," Rory said with a shrug. "Eli was nice enough. Granted I wasn't in the best of moods but…"

"Hey Ror," Chris interrupted their conversation.

"Yeah Dad?" She turned to see that he had switched seats with Finn and was staring at her intently.

"I know that I'm not your mom _but_ I was given a script and I've rehearsed, so I want to try, okay?" Rory looked at him strangely and Chris took the opportunity to continue. "Happy birthday little girl."

She looked at him with wide eyes, feeling the tears start to form without anything else being said. "Hey." She wondered how well he knew "the script" and if it was her mother who told him what to say. As far as Rory knew Chris had no clue about this little tradition…

"I can't believe how fast you're growing up." He was smiling thinking about how true that really was. His little girl, his little girl that whose life he had basically missed, was now officially 21-years-old.

"Really? Feels slow." Couldn't be closer to the truth in that matter. She felt like life was spiraling away but at an extremely slow pace.

"Trust me, it's fast. What do you think of life so far?" This was the easy part, it was the second half of the conversation that he was worried about. "Any complaints?" He smiled at her knowing that the answer would be far from the truth but she'd stick to tradition.

"I'd like that whole humidity thing to go away," Rory said as she looked at him with a small smile despite the silent tears running down her face.

"All right. I'll work on that." Chris returned the smile and moved a hand to wipe the tears off her cheeks.

"So do I look older?" Rory shook her hair back to give him a better look at her face.

"Oh, yeah. You walk into Denny's before five, you've got yourself a discount." By this time the entire table was watching and listening, curious to figure out what was really going on. At Chris' answer no one could hold back a laugh—even the Brits who had no clue what Denny's was.

"Good deal." She answered with another small smile.

"So you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you're a great, cool kid, and the best friend a guy could have." He winked at her and Rory couldn't help the chuckle. She was dying to find out what he would do with the rest of the tradition. Thus far he'd said everything properly.

"Right back at ya." It was nice that she could say something like that to her father and actually mean it. Their relationship had gotten so much better through the years, even with the whole wedding vow renewal incident.

"And it's so hard to believe that at exactly this time many moons ago, Lorelai was lying flat on her back—" He had truly worked on how to change the story so he could tell it properly but nothing about this story could exclude Lorelai. "Only she had a huge, fat stomach and big fat ankles and she was swearing like a sailor—"

"On leave." She added. It was nice that her dad was telling her the story. It mattered nothing to her that Chris hadn't actually been there that she was born. He was trying and she loved it.

"On leave—right! And there she was—" He gave her a grin, knowing that even though he hadn't been there that evening he could picture the scene perfectly. It was very Lorelai.

"In labor," Rory added.

"And while some have called it the most meaningful experience of their lives, to her it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite." The laughter at the table was much louder this time.

"I wonder if that Waltons ever did this."

"And Lorelai was screaming and swearing and being surrounded as she was by a hundred prominent doctors, she just assumed there was an actual use for the cup of ice chips they gave her." Chris couldn't hold back his laughter as he thought about the scene. He had known none of the details of their birthday story tradition but had called Lorelai when he landed in London to get the details. Though she was upset she couldn't do it herself, somehow she knew Rory would appreciate it. No matter how angry and hurt and disappointed and sad she was about what Rory was doing with her life, her daughter was her daughter and her best friend. She wanted her best friend back and she wasn't sure how she could do it, but if getting Chris to tell her this story was a way to stay connected to her without talking to her, she was going to tell him the story. Chris, however, had conveniently left out the detail of him actually seeing Rory on this day. He knew that Lorelai would be upset and feel left out, he didn't want that to happen, it was better that she didn't know.

"There wasn't." It wasn't a question.

"But watching her pelt the nurses sure was fun." Chris cracked another smile at that thought.

"I love you, Dad." Even though Rory had said it before and meant it there was a lot more power behind this statement. She knew that he understood it too.

"Shh. I'm getting to the part where he sees your head. So there your mom was…" Chris moved his seat back and pulled his daughter away from Tristan and into his arms. He held her close for a minute, savoring the fact that he still had a relationship with his daughter. If Lorelai couldn't be there to celebrate, he would take care of it, he had already started after all.

"Thanks Daddy," Rory whispered in his ear. He was being so wonderful to her and she couldn't help but be thankful he came to visit for the weekend. "Maybe this birthday won't be all that terrible after all."


	11. Two Pina Coladas

**AN:** Once again sorry for the delay, but hopefully it was worth it. The only story waiting to be written is Twinkle and Shine, oh, and I Choose You, but I'm working on them, I swear. But for now I have a bunch of chapters for my other stories so the wait won't be as long. Thanks for being patient with me and enjoy!

**GGGGGGGGG**

**Chapter 11: Two Piña Coladas **

After much coercion Rory got Finn to stay at her apartment for the weekend. There were plenty of rooms and though she did think about inviting everyone else to stay, Rory realized that she wanted time alone with the three men who had come together to help her be happy on her birthday.

"I don't think you're drunk enough," Finn announced as they got into the elevator.

"Are you kidding?" Chris asked, not entirely sober himself.

"I know mate, she's been drinking all night, but just wait until the real party. That's where it's all going to happen."

"And what exactly is going to happen?" Tristan asked with a smirk. Rory was leaning against him, the massive amount of alcohol she had that evening was getting to her. She was practically asleep, resting her head on his shoulder while his arm was around her waist.

"We're going to drink," Rory mumbled more into Tristan's neck than at anyone in particular.

"Didn't we drink tonight?" Tristan questioned.

"That was nothing!" Rory insisted, moving away from Tristan to look at her friend. "Right Finny?"

"Oy doll, do you think you could lay off the name?" He was smiling at her, wrapping an arm around her waist as she moved to stand next to him.

Rory's answer was a small laugh. "How much are we drinking tonight?" She asked him.

Finn's only answer was to laugh. "It all depends on what your fellow has planned. But it'll be something good. You still have a few more classes from The Finn Morgan school of liquor left you know."

"I know." Rory nodded her head and smiled at him. "I like these lessons."

Once again Finn's only answer was to laugh. The elevator doors opened and he led her to the hall and they all stood in front of the door. "Well, isn't somebody going to open it?" Rory asked looking at all three of the guys.

"You've got the keys kiddo," Christopher said.

"Oh, right." Rory was giggling as she rummaged through her purse. "A-ha!" She pulled the keys out and opened the door. "Come on Finn, I'll show you to your room." Rory took his hand and pulled him down the hall, giving him the room next to hers, her father having the room across the hallway. "What do you think?"

"The blinds are closed?" He questioned.

"Yup!" Rory nodded.

"Perfect. Good night love." Finn kissed her forehead and Rory moved towards the door.

"Finn?" She turned around once she reached the doorway and for a drunk girl said in a perfectly sober voice, "thanks for coming out here. It means a lot." He didn't answer her, just crossed the room and enveloped her in a huge hug. He let go a minute later and kicked her out of the room. When she got into the kitchen her father pushed a cup of coffee her way. "Bless you." She downed the cup in two gulps and held it out for Tristan, who was closest to the coffee maker, to pour her more.

"So…good night?" Chris asked as they were all around the island in the kitchen.

"A great night. Thank you, both of you." She looked back and forth between her father and Tristan.

"It's nice to actually spend your birthday with you," Chris told her. "I think I should get to bed though. Happy birthday little girl."

"Thanks Daddy." She hugged him tight for a few minutes before letting him go off to his room leaving her alone with Tristan in the kitchen.

"So Mare, ready for bed?" He smiled at her, happy when she returned the gesture. He had seen her smile, really smile, more in the past 24 hours then he had the entire semester.

Rory nodded and finished her coffee before taking the hand Tristan held out for her. He led them into her room leaving the door open a crack. "The blinds are closed, right?" She asked him once she came out of the bathroom in her pajamas.

"Yeah. Why did I close them again?" Tristan still didn't understand the logic.

"Logic states that tomorrow I will have a hangover. The last thing any person with a hangover wants is the sunlight to wake them up the next morning at some ungodly hour. Sunlight is not good when mixed with a hangover."

"Okay, so I understand the logic now, but you do realize that we're in London. The sun is never that bright in London."

"Point." Rory said with a shrug. "Ready for bed?" Tristan nodded and they both slid under the covers; Rory turning over so one arm was across his stomach keeping him close, Tristan reciprocating by placing his arm around her back.

**GGGGG**

"I need to steal her for a little while," Finn announced when the four had finished lunch. "Would that be okay?"

Rory had been impressed when Finn got up this morning without too much of an argument over the sun being out and joined them for lunch. Now he wanted to take her out just the two of them—it shocked her. "Really?"

"You doubt me kitten?" Finn glanced in her direction and grinned.

"You? Never!" Rory returned his grin and noticed the smiles that appeared on both her father and Tristan's faces. At that moment she was sure that Tristan had never seen her act the way that she had and would continue to act with Finn. "Would either of you mind?" She asked them.

"Not at all, it gives me time to put everything together for tonight," Tristan told her. "I could use your help Chris, if you don't have anything to do."

"One condition," Chris said to his daughter.

"And what's that?" Rory asked, curiosity peaked.

"You stay out here a few extra days, forget about classes and hang out with your old Dad." He saw that Rory was thinking about and interrupted her thought processes. "I think it's the least you can do for me, isn't it?"

Rory continued to think, taking in the expressions of both Finn and Tristan before answering. "I can stay until Tuesday night. How's that?"

"I'll take what I can get," Chris answered.

"Now that everything's settled, let's go." Finn stood up and pulled Rory along with him. "Say goodbye to your family love."

"Goodbye family." Rory gave them a smile as she allowed Finn to lead her out of the restaurant and wherever he chose. "So where are we going Mr. Morgan?"

"Now why would I tell you that?" Finn asked in a teasing tone as he smiled down at her—happy to see her returning the gesture.

"Because you love me," Rory said in a smug voice.

"While there really is no arguing that pet, it's no fun to actually tell someone where you're taking them."

"Mean!"

"That's not usually what the ladies say."

"I'm not your usual lady," Rory argued.

"How right you are." He continued moving down the street, enjoying the beautiful day, by London standards, that they were graced with. Rory seemed in high spirits and Finn could only hope that he was part of her happiness. He had seen her go through so much from the beginning of her "relationship" with Logan until she disappeared from their radar. It had taken them all, including Logan, a lot of nosing around to figure out where Rory went but they managed. Logan had taken the entire breakup badly, as well as Rory, but when he found out she left the country to avoid the entire situation it was not pretty. Finn had never seen Logan drink quite as much as he did that week, and it surprised them all when instead of having a different girl every night there was _no one_ in Logan's bed but Logan. He spent every night for a month by himself, perfectly happy to do nothing but flirt, if it could be considered that, with the girls at the bars. Eventually Logan had gotten himself out of his funk, but Rory moved to London and it finally sunk in that she was gone. Logan would get no second chance. For weeks after breaking up he had phoned her constantly, only to be met with her voicemail and no returned calls—it devastated him for a short period. It was only after he found out that she left the country that Logan finally accepted the end of their relationship. Finn knew Logan would jump at the chance of getting Rory back but the few hours he had spent with her and Tristan made him realize that Logan was no long an option for Rory. She needed to move on and had finally done so. Good for her.

"Finn? We're crossing the bridge?" Rory looked around and noticed they were in fact on The Southwark Bridge and didn't understand. What were they doing here?

"Yes doll, we are. I see your investigative skills haven't suffered since you moved across the ocean. It's such a nice day I figured walking would be the best way to get there. Would you rather not walk? Too much exercise for a Gilmore girl?"

Rory shrugged. "It's fine. Where are you taking me?"

"Surprise doll, I already told you that." Finn glanced at her and smiled. "Dying from the suspense are you?"

"You know it!" Rory laughed at him, enjoying his company and laid back attitude.

"We're almost there doll, promise." He grabbed her hand as they continued to walk along the Thames. Finn didn't know how to approach the topic on his mind with Rory, he didn't want to set her off in anyway. From the brief conversations he had with Tristan prior to his arrival it seemed that Rory was _finally_ opening up again and Finn didn't want to set back her progress. That wouldn't be fair.

"How's Logan?" Her soft voice asked hesitantly.

"Excuse me?" Finn looked at her sharply, definitely not expecting her to ask that.

"How is he Finn?" She looked over at him, pleading with her eyes for him to understand—she didn't want to repeat her question again.

"He's okay." Their break-up hadn't been easy on either of them and Finn didn't want to betray his best friend, just as he wouldn't want to betray her once he returned to Yale.

"Really?" Rory had a hard time believing that. She knew that he wouldn't be pining like she had, but she wouldn't have expected him to get over everything so quickly. She thought that she meant a little more to Logan that that. Although their break-up had been extremely messy, she still thought he would miss her. Just as she still missed him at times.

"It wasn't easy pet," Finn said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his short hair. "He was crushed when he found out that you were not only 'dropping out' of Yale for an undetermined amount of time but that you had transferred for at least a semester to Oxford. I'm not sure if he was more hurt over you not returning and going across the ocean or that he didn't even find it out from you."

"He wouldn't have listened to anything that I said Finn," Rory reasoned. She had thought about telling Logan, telling _any_ of them that she was leaving but she really had no idea how to do it. After a while it seemed that Logan didn't want her calling him, didn't want to see her, wanted to cut her out of his life as clean as possible so she hadn't thought of making an honest effort of letting him know what her plans for the fall were.

"You could have told one of us," Finn told her. "When he didn't see you around school, at the paper, in the library, drinking coffee, any of your normal spots; when Paris wouldn't tell him where you were, Logan went crazy, love. He tried calling your mother but she wouldn't answer his calls at the inn or return any of his messages. It took us some time but we finally worked the society circuit to find out what had happened to you."

"Who told you?" Rory asked stopping to lean against the short wall and look at the water.

"Your grandparents finally gave in. They felt badly that we didn't know anything and could see how worried we were. We were sworn not to look for you though. You were all right—in one piece at least—and we were to leave you until you decided to come home. That's when we found out how bad your separation from Lorelei was." Rory only nodded. "I'm sorry things were so rough," he said sincerely.

"I know Finny, it's not your fault. I was the one who thought it would be a good idea to steal a yacht. I was also the one who decided to let the words of Mitchum Huntzberger," she made a face as if she had eaten something rotten, "affect my life in such a big way. He's not the only person in the newspaper business."

"I'm glad you realized that. Logan'll be glad too you know. He cares about you, a lot. It took him a long time to get over your break-up and just when he thought you he had you didn't return to school. I think he had accepted the end with hopes he could win you back."

"What happened?" Rory hated to hear that he was let down so badly.

"He found out you moved to England to get away from him and took weeks to get over that pain before returning to something like his old self. More alcohol, not as many women, but no girlfriends. He won't do the girlfriend thing again. He said if his father treated his first love the way that he did Logan would hate to bring anyone home again. I think the guy'll elope before he introduces his next girlfriend to his family…and society."

Rory nodded. "Probably the smartest thing he'll ever do. His parents won't approve of anyone that has an IQ or ambition or anything like that."

Finn nodded and looked at her profile carefully. "How are _you_ doll?" He watched her face intently, knowing that half the battle of understanding Rory Gilmore was to watch her completely. He would probably learn more from her facial expressions then her words.

"Eh, I'm alright," she answered him honestly. Logan, Finn, Colin and Steph were some of the few people who could read her expressions and it would be no use trying to lie to him about how she was feeling.

"Care to expand on that?"

"Not really."

"Try," Finn asked of her. "We only have fifteen minutes so just try, for me, please?"

Rory sighed. "I don't really know what to tell you Finn. My boyfriend's father crushed my dreams; I stole a boat with said boyfriend and got arrested; I'm not speaking with my best friend; I moved in with my grandparents and taken time off from Yale; I've since broken up with my boyfriend, got my grandfather to enroll me at Oxford University, met up with the bane of my existence from high school who isn't as bad as he used to be, and now I'm celebrating my 21st birthday with him, 'our' friends from school, my father and you. My mother, my best friend, who I've had plans for my 21st birthday with since I could understand what she was saying is across the ocean and doesn't even want my phone number in case of an emergency. She's written me out of her life without a second thought. It hurts. She's forgotten that she's my mother, my very understanding mother, and my best friend. At the time when I really needed, and still do need, her the most she's deserted me. That hurts. How does someone get over something like that?" She wasn't looking at him. She was staring at the water trying to stop the tears from collecting in her eyes and falling down her face. She didn't want to cry on her birthday.

"I'm sorry for making you rehash this on your birthday doll, but I just want to understand." And he did understand. There was nothing that Finn, or the rest of them, didn't understand about parents disappointing them. The difference was their parents had been disappointing them since birth, and they disappointed their parents back in return. Lorelei and Rory had never disappointed each other until Rory needed Lorelei the most. She may have rebelled in a big fashion but no one would have ever expected Lorelei to cut her daughter down and away like this. It was very unlike Lorelei Victoria Gilmore to treat her daughter like this.

"I know," Rory said with a deep breath. "And I love that you're trying and you care. I love that you're here even though Logan probably won't like that you are. I love that you stole me away form everyone this afternoon to take me to a show at Shakespeare's Globe theater. I love that you're teaching me about alcohol, I love that you get along with Tristan. I love that Tristan got you out here. I love that you guys are all so worried about me. As much as I love that stuff Finn, as much as I want to take it all and let it heal everything that's wrong in my life right now, I can't. I can't just move past this like it's any other road bump. This isn't me not getting into the school of my dreams or me not getting a job as an overseas correspondent. This is about so much more. This is about my entire life falling apart in front of my face and me having no control over it. I have no control Finn—do you know how scary that is?" Rory couldn't help the tears from falling down her face. She tried and it was useless. All she needed was to cry. She had been putting up a brave front for her father, and yes, for Tristan as well, but it wasn't that simple. At all.

Finn watched silently as the tears rolled down her cheeks before gathering Rory into his arms and holding her tight. "I know love, I know. It's hard to watch life fall apart but the good news is that there are people here to catch you. They may not be the people you always expected to be there, but they are here for you nonetheless. Tristan seems like an amazing guy, he got me here after all, didn't he? And your dad, well, I know you haven't had a good past with him but he's here—at the drop of a hat, and apparently had a very painful conversation with your mom to make your birthday extra special for you. He's trying, you can't deny that. And I'm here. Even though the others would have liked to come and I have presents from all of them, as well as a direct demand from Stephanie that you email her and tell her when you're free because she's picking you up on the family jet and taking you for a weekend of shopping and debauchery in Paris." He was happy to see Rory smile. "And you know what? You may not believe it but even Logan would be happy to do something to make things easier on you. The break-up may not have been good but he blames his father and himself for everything that happened between the two of you. Mitchum is an evil guy, Logan knows that, hell, everyone knows it, but that doesn't change the amount of respect the man has. He's not everything and everyone in the journalism business though and it'll do you well to remember that. Many of the big names don't belong to Huntzberger Publishing and Mitchum has no control over who they hire. In fact, I think there are quite a few papers who would hire you in spite of Mitchum, wanting to show them how wrong he was and make him eat his words." He was happy to see a slight smile. "Now love, the show is going to start in a few minutes, let's go inside and get a good spot." Finn threw an arm around her shoulders and hugged her for a moment before turning them away and towards the open doors.

Two hours later the show was over and they managed to get someone to stop for a moment and take some pictures for them. "Where to now?" Rory asked with a smile. The show had been great, even though she had to stand for all that time it added something special to it.

"Back to your place to change and then meet up with everyone."

"You know what's going on tonight?"

"Oh love, when are you going to learn? Of course I know what's going on tonight," Finn told her with a smile. "I _always_ know what's going on—_especially_ when alcohol is involved. I thought you would have realized that by now!"

Rory laughed. "I'm sorry Finny, I forgot. Did you pick out my outfit for tonight as well? Are my Dad and Tristan going to be waiting for us at the apartment?"

"Oh, I brought you something from Stephanie herself!" Finn grinned. "And probably not. They've been just as busy this afternoon."

"Really? Doing what?" She flashed her Bambi eyes at him—eyes that she knew he couldn't resist.

"Usually I fall for those baby blues in a heartbeat but not tonight," Finn told her good-naturedly. "Tonight I am on a strict mission."

"I think we need to stop at the pub and liquor you up. You're much more exciting with liquor."

"And I'll tell you more when I'm intoxicated, is that it?"

She grinned sheepishly. "Okay, so maybe that's another perk."

Finn laughed. "Sorry love, no liquor until later on this evening."

"Finn! It's my 21st birthday! I can't believe you're denying both of us liquor on my 21st birthday! Isn't that against your code?"

He grimaced. "I know doll, but I'm not denying _you_ liquor, just me."

"How can I drink alone and have a good time?" Rory looked appalled at that idea.

"It could happen."

"Don't think so. Come on, let's get in the cab." They slid into the back seat and Rory gave the driver the address to her apartment, allowing Finn to pay for the ride—after an argument though—and heading upstairs to shower. "Aren't you ready _yet_?" He asked her almost two hours later.

"You can't rush beauty Finny," Rory reasoned as she walked out of her bedroom and towards the kitchen counter where she began switching items from one purse to another. "On the second hand, do I even need a purse? I mean Tristan can put my phone in his pocket and I'm sure money isn't necessary for tonight…besides the emergency twenty quid that is."

"Good reasoning. Skip the purse. You know pet, I'm not sure how you managed to do it, but you look even more stunning then normal." He laid on the charm and grinned when Rory smiled at him.

"Have I told you what an amazing friend you are?" She asked, ignoring his last statement and turning the tables on him.

"I have been told once or twice, though usually not when Colin and Logan are bailing me out or being hauled off to lockup with me. They never regret it though."

"That's because you're a loyal friend, no matter how much alcohol they've consumed. We can always count on you." She smiled at him again and hugged him. "Thanks for being here."

"Enough! You've thanked me in every other breath and I've had enough of it. You're welcome, it's an honour to be here with you on your birthday. Now shush!" There was a knock on the door and Finn moved to answer. "Finally!" Opening the door he took the four glasses from the man and shoved a few bills in his hand. "Thanks. Now love," he said while he walked over to Rory, "we're going to start this evening off right. Cheers!" He handed her one of the glasses and clinked them together, watching her as they both took a sip.

"A Pina Colada! So good!" Rory exclaimed with a smile.

"Steph made me promise that I would treat you to two pina colada's and then sing the song with you."

"The song?" Rory asked with a worried glance as she took another long taste of the drink.

"Yes. Now, do you have everything? I'll fill you in on the way to the car, if we're more than five minutes late Tristan will kill me!" He ushered her out the door, grabbed her keys and locked the door, before meeting her at the waiting elevator. "You know any Garth Brooks pet?"

Rory shook her head. "You listen to country music?" Finn didn't seem like that type.

"Not by choice."

"Are you trying to tell me that Stephanie Vanderbilt listens to country music?"

Finn laughed at Rory's expression. "I know, it sounds crazy, but she went through a phase. A phase that includes listening to Garth Brooks even now. That is how she knows that pina colada song, do you know it?"

Rory shook her head. "Mom banned most country music from our house."

"Smart woman. Okay, let me teach it to you." They got into the car, throwing out one empty glass to start on the second one. By the time they reached the pub, only a fifteen-minute drive, they had not only finished the drinks but Finn had taught her all the words. Deciding to make an entrance, Rory suggesting it since she was quite tipsy already, they entered the pub while singing loudly.

_Now I'm on a roll_

_And I swear to my soul_

_Tonight I'm gonna paint this town_

_So bring me two pina coladas_

_One for each hand_

_Let's set sail with Captain Morgan_

_And never leave dry land_

_Troubles I forgot em_

_I buried em in the sand_

_So bring me two pina coladas_

_She said goodbye to her good timin man_

_Oh now I've gotta say_

_That the wind and the waves_

_And the mood winkin down at me_

_Eases my mind_

_By leavin behind_

_The heartache that love often brings_

_Now I've got a smile _

_That goes on for miles_

_With no inclination to roam_

_I've gotta say_

_That I think I've gotta stay_

_Cause this is feeling more and more like home_

_So bring me two pina coladas_

_One for each hand_

_Let's set sail with Captain Morgan_

_And never leave dry land_

_Troubles I forgot em_

_I buried em in the sand_

_So bring me two pina coladas_

_She said goodbye to her good timin man_

Rory couldn't help pausing to smile and kiss Finn's cheek each time the words 'Captain Morgan' came up and knew she had to email Steph her thanks for making Finn promise to include this song and drink in her birthday.

"You had a good afternoon is seems?" Chris asked as she and Finn joined him at a back table. Tristan was weaving his way from Addison and Jasper towards them and Rory took in her surroundings. Tristan was amazing.

"It was a lot of fun," Rory told her dad. "It was really nice of Finn."

"I see you've started drinking."

Rory laughed. "I did spend the afternoon with Finn Daddy. I'm surprised my coffee wasn't spiked!" They all laughed at that.

"Learned a new song today Mary?" Tristan questioned as he finally reached the table.

"I did at that," she affirmed.

"Sounds good."

"Certainly."

"Everyone is waiting to say happy birthday."

"They should come here. It is _my_ birthday after all," Rory told him with an indignant look on her face.

"You got away from Emily Gilmore just in time, didn't you Mare?" Tristan said with a smirk that Finn couldn't help but compare to Logan's. The two society blondes were so similar, yet Tristan was different from all of them.

"You better believe it! The minute I saw that D.A.R. application I knew I needed to leave?"

"Excuse me?" Chris looked at his daughter with shock.

"You heard me right Dad."

"Rory! Happy birthday!"

"Eli! Thank you!" She stood up and returned the hug of her newest friend. "Oh, this is perfect! Eli I want you to meet a friend from Yale, Finn Morgan. Finn, this is your Oxford counterpart, or so it seems, Elliot Gardner."

"Nice to meet you mate," Finn shook the other man's hand and in a few seconds they were in a very intense conversation about alcohol.

"What do you think?" Tristan asked her as he led her towards the bar for a drink.

"You're amazing," she told him with a smile.

"It's nothing," he said. "Anything for you. Happy birthday."

"Thanks Tris." Rory turned to hug him tight as they waited for the bartender to come by and take their order. It was going to be a good night. She could tell.


	12. Other Friends

**Chapter 12: Other Friends**

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Chris asked as they got closer to the airport.

"I'm sure," Rory tried to reassure her father. He was taking the last possible flight today, Tuesday, and she would return to school as soon as he was gone. Everyone else had left Sunday night, the hardest good-bye being with Finn. He promised to come back and visit and made her swear to keep in touch but there was no telling when she'd see him next.

"I guess this is me," he said once the car stopped.

"Seems that way." Toby opened the door and waited as they both exited the car. "Thanks for everything Daddy." They had spent the last two days enjoying London together.

"Anytime you need me Rory, I'm here for you."

"Thanks." She stood on her tip-toes and hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you too little girl. Now go back to school and be safe. Give Tristan a chance too." Chris smiled at her surprised face. "You know what I'm saying, don't give me that look."

"Tell Larry the pilot to fly safely," she said with a soft smile. "Call when you get home okay? Kiss Gigi for me?"

"Of course. Love you."

"Love you too." With a final hug Rory watched her father head towards check-in, waiting until she could no longer see him in the sea of people before getting back into the car. "It's time to get back to real life," she said to Toby with a sigh. "Let's get back to school."

"Sure Miss Rory."

She sat back on the seat, letting out another sigh before closing her eyes for a brief moment. She felt something shift this weekend with Tristan, something more than usual, and Rory was well aware that both Finn and her father had picked up on it. Both had given her multiple hints that she should just let him into her life, but she wasn't there yet. She didn't…well, was it that she didn't trust him? She didn't think so, Rory felt safe with Tristan, she trusted him more than most people she'd been around her entire life. He was doing something amazing for her and she didn't doubt his intentions. So if she trusted him, felt safe with him why couldn't she open that last barrier? Oh yes, her mother. Lorelei, and even Christopher, had done such a number on their daughter and they had no clue. Usually Lorelei would pick up on these things and remind her daughter that whatever guy she was dating didn't deserve the treatment she offered. Not every man was like her father, not every woman reacted the way she, Lorelei, did. But Lorelei wasn't here and Rory was left with her fear of commitment that few people, if any, realized and could talk her away from. If Tristan wanted something to happen he was going to have to work twice as hard and Rory wondered if once he figured that out he would still be interested. The fight for her to be completely his, in many senses, wasn't going to be easy. She was scared that if he let her go like so many other people had, making her feel so inconsequential, her heart wouldn't be able to take it. If Tristan walked away from her Rory wasn't sure she could take it, she wouldn't know where to go and that would be dangerous. Shaking those thoughts away Rory concentrated on the present and getting back to school. Pulling out the one notebook she thought to bring with her and a pen, she tried writing her mother another letter.

_November 12, 2005_

_Dear Mom,_

_Well, I'm 21 now. I just dropped dad off at the airport and am on the way back to school. It was actually a pretty great weekend. Didn't really start on the best foot but then Dad came out to surprise me and Tristan called Finn, who flew out here, and Tristan planned the whole weekend. It was amazing mom, they were all so good to me. Tristan didn't yell because I freaked out Thursday night and left in the middle of the morning for London; Finn taught me _some_ of what he knows about alcohol and Dad…well…Dad was amazing. Thank you for telling him about the tradition. Of course it was exactly the same but he did a great job. Everyone enjoyed the story, you'd like my friends here. They're not all rich kids, and some are Americans as well, but I know that you'd like them. Probably better then you like anyone I went to Yale with. I guess the big plus is that they're not Grandma's friends kids. I don't even know what you think anymore, I can't read you the way I used to and I know that goes both ways._

_Finn took me to Shakespeare's Globe too. It was a great day. Really. Tristan planned two big parties, one on Friday and one on Saturday. He left with everyone Sunday afternoon, giving me some time with Dad and Finn. Dad let me spend the day with Finn, which ended in a tearful goodbye for me, not really him at the airport. Lucky for Finn he flew commercial for once so I had to leave him at security, otherwise I would probably be flying back from New Haven right now. Dad and I spent the last two days together, enjoying London, sharing stories…well more him sharing stories in hopes to make me smile. He didn't want to at first, but I made him talk about when you were both younger. Both before and after you started dating. You two were really in love, weren't you?_

_I have to go, the car just stopped and I can hear Toby's steps getting closer. I hope that you're okay mom, I miss you._

_Love you,_

_Rory_

"Thanks Toby." Rory shouldered her bag and smiled at her usual driver.

"Your welcome Miss Rory. Are you sure you don't want me to help you back to your room?"

Rory smiled. "I think little old me can handle this one bag."

"But what about everything else?" He gestured to the trunk and Rory laughed.

"How could I have forgotten about all that?" They were discussing the birthday gifts that were taking up the trunk; mainly they were from her father, with Tristan and Finn spoiling her as well. The others had bought her other little things in addition to drinks and she repeatedly told them it wasn't necessary and they should return it, but they didn't listen.

"Rory!"

She heard the male voice and turned to it, not recognizing it immediately and wondering who was there. "Eli! How are you?" Addison's friend was walking towards her with Marcy, who Rory had met this weekend at her party, both wearing smiles.

"I'm good, are you just getting back from London?" Eli asked.

"Yeah, I spent some time with my dad, I don't think my grades will suffer. How are you Marcy?"

"Good, thanks. Did you have fun with your dad?"

"You bet. It was nice to see him."

"Miss Rory?" Toby interrupted. "What would you like to do with all of this?"

The group turned around to see what Toby was talking about and Eli spoke up before Rory could. "We'll help her take that back." He moved towards the car and started emptying the trunk. "It looks like you made out like a bandit," he said to Rory with a smile.

She laughed. "I guess I did. It was mainly my dad though, he likes to spoil me—and make up for the birthdays that he missed."

"Let's go, shall we?" Marcy asked, picking up the few bags left after Eli loaded himself with a few.

"Thanks for everything Toby."

"My pleasure, happy birthday Miss Rory."

"Thanks." She started leading the pair towards her room, ready to put her stuff down—and find Tristan. "Where were you coming from?"

"Oh, we were headed to Benji's room," Marcy told her. "We're all meeting there."

"Going to dinner?" Rory asked, happy to see her building come into view.

"Probably, who knows what we'll end up doing. Do you want to come?" Eli extended the invitation, wanting to make her feel welcome. After the party Saturday night the entire group decided that they really liked Rory and wanted to hang out with her a little more. As much as they liked the British kids, they always felt better when hanging out with Americans. Not to mention they wanted Rory to feel welcomed and know that she had friends besides Tristan and his group.

"Oh well, thanks but I think I'm going to look for Tristan…"

"You like him, don't you?" Marcy asked with a knowing smile. She had watched their interactions Saturday night, noting that while Rory had spent most of her time with her friend from America, Finn, who was actually Australian, and her father, she and Tristan were usually staring at one another or not far apart. Many times they were sitting, or standing, together but each in their own conversation, it was cute.

"What? No!" Rory protested, unable to help the blush on her face. "I mean…"

"It's alright, I know exactly what you mean," Marcy reassured her. "He's invited too if that makes you feel better."

Rory thought about the invitation for a minute while she put her things away. She typically wasn't one to unpack right away but she needed a little bit of time to think. On one hand she really did want to see Tristan, hang out with him, see everyone else, she had missed him. They hadn't spoken the past two days because he knew how much she wanted to catch up with her father and respected that, not wanting to interrupt their rare time together. The two nights she slept without him weren't her most sleep filled nights but at least she wasn't up the entire night anymore. Still, sleeping had been hard without him there, the only slightly soothing thought was that she'd have to get used to it—he wouldn't be around forever. On the other hand, she wanted to go out with this new group of friends without the others. These were the first friends she had made because they were her friends, not because they had to hang out with her. It wasn't that she didn't see Carter and the others as her friends but they had to at least pretend to like her because of Tristan. Marcy, Eli and their friends, however, didn't have to do that. Sure they had Addison in common but that was it. They had no obligation to attend her birthday party in London or be friends with her once they got back to school. Realizing that it was nice to have her own friends again she smiled at the pair still waiting for their answer. "You know what, an evening with you guys sounds perfect. Should I change?" She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.

"Nope. You're fine. We're not going anywhere fancy. We may even order in," Marcy told her.

"Okay. Let's go." Rory followed them out of the room, talking about the past two days in London as they made their way across campus to Benji's room.

"Hey everyone, look who we found," Eli announced as he walked into the room without knocking.

"Rory!" They greeted her with smiles, the two closest to her, Jackie and Lucy, hugging her.

"Hey guys, how are you?" Feeling strangely at ease, Rory took a seat on the floor, her back against the wall, looking towards the couch where Marcy had joined Benji and Addison, Eli sitting on the open chair.

"Good, good. How was the rest of London?"

"Great! My dad and I hung out the past two days, he took me shopping."

"Really? Where?"

"Where do you think?" Rory asked with a roll of her eyes. "I tried to talk him out of the entire thing but he wouldn't hear of it. He'd probably refurnished and redecorated my entire room if I would have let him."

"I wish my parents would do that!" Jackie complained.

"Oh please," Addison commented, "your parents would do anything. You're Daddy's little girl."

She smiled broadly. "I am, aren't I?" Obviously she was proud of that.

"Do you miss them?" Rory asked.

"Who? My family?" Jackie looked at her. Rory nodded. "Sometimes. It's nice to have my best friends here, makes it a little bit easier to be so far away. Like Addy said, I'm Daddy's little girl, so it's difficult in that sense. But I'm glad that I'm here."

"Are you going back to Michigan when you graduate?"

She laughed. "Probably not. After living here for so long I need to be somewhere a little bit more rushed, a big city; New York, LA, Chicago, maybe Boston."

"Aren't we getting dinner?" Benji interrupted.

"Yes! What do you want?" Lucy asked them all. After a 20 minute debate they came up with an answer and ordered both sandwiches and pizza.

"Are we watching a movie too?" Rory wanted to know. It seemed like a good occasion for a movie night.

"Should we?" Addison asked her.

"It seems like a perfect time for a movie night, but we need to get more sugar if we're going to do it right."

"Do it right?" Lucy wanted to know.

"A true Gilmore girls movie night," she squeezed her eyes shut, not really wanting to think too much about her mother, and took a deep breath before continuing, "involves lots of sugar, so much that you either fear or experience a sugar coma, and multiple movies. Since we can't do multiple movies we should try for the sugar coma."

"You mean you actually _want_ a sugar coma?" Marcy looked at her strangely, sugar comas weren't really that much fun—they left you feeling like you had a hangover without the fun of drinking.

"In this case yes, you want a sugar coma. What do you say?"

"You'll have to go to the store, we don't have anything here," Tyler announced as he came out of the kitchen.

"Come with me to the store then?" She smiled up at him with wide eyes that she knew no one could resist.

"That really isn't fair," Tyler complained. "Come on, let's go." He sighed and picked up his coat. "Anyone else want to join us on this crazy adventure that I have a feeling I'm paying for?"

They shook their heads and the pair headed out the door. "Gilmore!" Addison called out before they closed the door.

"Yeah?" She looked over her shoulder at him.

"If you see DuGrey invite him along, okay?"

She smiled at him, a smile that made him feel good. Rory just had that kind of smile. "Will do." Rory closed the door behind her, excited that she could have some form of a movie night. It was something that she felt she needed. The walk to the store was filled with conversation, Rory wanting to know whatever she could about Tyler, having spent the least amount of time with him out of the entire group.

"This is a lot of food," Tyler commented once they were headed back to his room. "A lot of food. And it's all sugar. How can you eat all this stuff?"

"I won't be eating _all_ of it!" She exclaimed. "You guys will be helping, though I will probably eat more than any of you and last longer too. There aren't many people who can handle sugar the way a Gilmore girl can."

"Mary?" She heard a voice call out.

Smiling Rory turned around and dropped the bags in her hands. "Tristan!" She ran towards him, throwing her arms around him, happy to see him. "How are you? What are you doing?"

"It's good to see you too Mar. I'm headed to the pub to meet everyone, what are you doing? I thought you were going to call me when you got in?" He had been waiting for her call, wanting to take her out to dinner, thinking she would be upset now that her father was gone but he hadn't heard anything. Deciding not to sit around and wait Tristan made the decision to meet the others at the pub and was headed that way when he saw her. He was slightly hurt that she was back and didn't call him but the greeting she gave him made up for it slightly.

"Movie night with Addison and his friends. Eli and Marcy ran into me when I got here, helped me bring my stuff to my room and then invited me along. You should see the stuff that my dad got me, it's crazy! Adding it to what you and Finn got me and I had quite a handful." She smiled at him, taking his hand and leading him towards Tyler as she spoke. "You met Tyler this weekend, didn't you?"

Tristan nodded. "Hey, good to see you."

"You too."

"Movie night?" He asked seeing the amount of sugar they had with them.

"We needed supplies," Rory told him. "Come with." It was more of a demand then a request. "Please?" Rory could see that he wasn't going to say yes and knew that had to change. Now that he was in front of her she didn't want to let him get away. The idea of being apart from him any longer bothered her greatly. Wanting to ensure his attendance she stuck her bottom lip out and grinned internally when he sighed and smiled.

"How can I resist that face?" He asked, shaking his head.

"You can't!" She was obviously happy about that. "Come on!" She picked up the bags she was carrying before seeing him, protesting slightly when Tristan took a few from her but smiled when he linked their free hands together and they continued on.

"You had fun with your dad then? Tristan asked, wanting to make sure everything turned out well. He knew that her relationship with Christopher wasn't perfect, even if he was doing this fabulous thing for her, and needed to know that the past two days were good.

"We had a really good time. I'm glad he decided to come out. It was a nice surprise. Did I thank you for setting everything up this weekend? The parties? The people? Finn?"

Tyler was being ignored but he didn't mind all that much, he was too busy taking in the scene and wondering when the two would get together. The group had been discussing it since Saturday night. They knew that there was something more to the relationship between Tristan and Rory but from what they knew the two were perfect for each other; it was just a matter of when they would admit it.

"I'm glad you had a good time. I wanted to make your birthday special for you."

"You succeeded." Rory sighed as they continued their walk. "Thanksgiving is in a few weeks."

"I know," Tristan said with a nod. He wasn't looking forward to the holiday.

"Why don't you sound happy about that?" Rory had been debating accepting her grandparents offer to come back to Hartford for the weekend but knew in the end she wouldn't. If word got back to her mother about her coming home the gap between them would only widen.

"My parents want to spend the holiday with me." His voice was anything but excited.

"You're back! We can't decide what movie," Lucy said when the trio walked through the door. "Tristan! Good to see you, we were wondering when you were going to show up."

He turned to Rory and raised his brows. "Oh really?"

"It seems that wherever Rory is you're not far behind," Jackie explained.

"What are the movie choices?" Rory asked, wanting to get away from talking about her and Tristan.


	13. Perfection Is Overrated

**AN: ** I'm sorry for the delay in updating, really I am. I didn't mean for it to be so extremely long but you know how it is when life gets in the way of things. Anyway…I hope to be updating more regularly but even more important I hope you enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter 13: Perfection Is Overrated**

His life was far from perfect. His mind was overwhelmed with doubt and wavering self- esteem, but no one would know. One look at him would have you classifying him as preppy, spoiled, rich, cocky; rarely would someone consider him smart or insightful, nor would people take stock of his feelings. To so many people he was invisible, there but not really. An after thought to his parents, a burden to teacher's during high school, just another student to professors, and at times the fun loving center of attention with his friends. Rarely did anyone see beyond those ideas, rarely did someone take time to know him beyond that impression. It was an impression he had perfected through the years, he had worked hard to create that mask, to act like nothing bothered him.

Carter had been the second person in his life to see through the mask. He wasn't a society kid, that had to be the key. Society kids recognized the masks that others like them wore but rarely did anything about it. No one pried into anyone else's lives. Truthfully, the gossip mill removed any need to pry out information that was beyond the mask they each created as young children. If they were lucky there was one person in the family, or even the extended family, that cared; if they weren't lucky they relied on nannies when they were younger and chauffeurs when they were older. Everything could be fixed with money. But Carter, he had seen through it all, he had taken the time to find out what was beyond that mask, to tear it down piece by piece. The only other person who had ever done that, ever _tried_ to do that was her.

She was an amazing person. With a mother that ran away from society at 17 with a daughter a year-old and no job, no money, she had grown into a better person then anyone else he had met during his years in Hartford. It had taken a while for them to reach some kind of friendship, a truce is probably a better word, but unfortunately it didn't happen until he left for military school. Even now he could remember her face when he told her, when he missed playing Romeo to her Juliet. How she could ever think that he would give up a chance to kiss her was beyond him. All he wanted to do then, and honestly now, was to kiss her, to be with her. He would give up every other girl if she wanted him to, if she wanted him as much as he wanted her. There was always someone in their way though. If it wasn't Dean then it was military school and now, now that he had her back, she was going through an emotional crisis that he wasn't going to take advantage of.

But how he wish he could. The nights he spent with her, the conversations they had at all hours, the time that they spent in silence—it only made him love her more. Yes, it was love, he wasn't denying it any longer. He had been in love with her since they first met. She'd never believe him back then, never take him seriously, and he didn't fault her for that. She didn't understand the way society worked, she had the impression that her mother gave her and couldn't get past it completely. Her opinion was slightly justified, it took him a long time to show her who he really was, and by that time he was being forced to leave. They were making progress now though. Fate had thrown them back together at a time when he could prove to her how different he was from the teenager she knew and the young men she had met at college.

Logan, Colin and Finn had introduced her to the idea that not every rich kid was awful. They had laid the groundwork for him to gain her trust, to keep her close to him. From the minute he knew that she was actually at Oxford he had been intent on making sure history did not repeat himself. Imagine his surprise when he found out that he was just the person she needed. Once he figured that out he became determined to help her. To do something for her that no one else had before. He would break down what she was hiding, find a way to reveal the Rory Gilmore that he knew and then profess his love. He wouldn't be able to deny it much longer. He had fallen in love with her the minute she walked into Chilton and it only deepened over the last few months. She was an amazing creature, how could someone not love her? It was so simple to do so. He only hoped she could return the feelings one day.

"You're thinking about her, aren't you?" A voice broke his thoughts.

"What?" Tristan looked up at the sound of the unexpected voice.

"You're thinking about her again. I can tell. I know you. Don't deny it. Why this time?" Carter had been watching one of his best friends for the past month or two. Ever since they had discovered that Tristan knew Rory Gilmore the entire group had been watching the show pan out. Everyone wanted to know what was going on but background information was scarcely given. All anyone knew was that they went to high school together before Tristan got shipped off and he had a crush on her. Rory, however, never returned the feelings and found Tristan to be a spoiled rich kid. They were dying to find out more, but after a few weeks realized that no one was willing to share the intimate details of their "relationship" or what was really going on with Rory.

Tristan shrugged. He couldn't explain why his thoughts went to her so often. He was worried about her, he loved her, he wanted her to love him back but he didn't know why exactly he was always thinking of her. "I worry about her, I want her to be okay."

"She's not?" Carter didn't know Rory really well, no one but Tristan knew her actually. She seemed like a cool girl but she was so introverted, so quiet. Occasionally she showed a different side of her, a side that they made them realize why Tristan loved her so much, but it wasn't often they understood.

"There's just a lot of things going on and…"

"You want to tell me?" They had told each other everything over the past two years, they kept very few, if any, secrets. Tristan was a part of his family and Carter knew that he was Tristan's. Carter and his family were basically the only real family that Tristan knew besides his one grandfather that loved him.

"It's not my story to tell," he said reluctantly. It would certainly help to tell someone everything but that wasn't an option. He couldn't go running around talking about Rory's life at Yale and beforehand. He couldn't go into details about what she was doing at Oxford without her saying it was okay. Doing something like that would not show her how he'd changed.

"There's something else," Carter said. He knew Tristan well, he could tell that he was brooding but it wasn't all about Rory, there was something else. "Your parents?" The elder DuGrey's rarely contacted their son but when they did it was never pretty. Tristan moped around for days, going into a funk that only he could get himself out of.

"Not exactly. My grandfather called…"

"Isn't that good?" Tristan's grandfather was a great man that came to visit his grandson multiple times during the year, always reminding Tristan that there was some biological family that loved him.

"Normally yes, but this time he asked me to come home."

"To Hartford?" There had been very few times when Tristan returned to America, one being when his grandfather was sick, but rarely did he acquiesce to his parent's requests of his return for some stupid dinner or party. They wanted to prep him for when he took over the family business but Tristan didn't want anything to do with it. He was bitter enough that he had to take over the business.

"Yeah. For Thanksgiving. Everyone's going to be away for Christmas it seems, so they want me around for Thanksgiving."

"You never go home for Thanksgiving—a holiday I really don't understand by the way."

Tristan grinned. Ever since he had met Carter the Brit had been telling him the same thing. Actually, very few of the British understood why Americans celebrated a time when they manhandled the Indians out of their land. "I know you don't, but it's apparently a time for 'family' to get together'. And since I am the heir it is expected that I come home if at all possible."

"So?"

He shrugged. "Gramps asked me to…"

"You have such a soft spot for the old man," Carter teased. It wasn't often that one saw the sweeter side to Tristan DuGrey. Actually, Carter had only seen it regularly when the situation concerned Tristan's grandfather and now Rory Gilmore. Gilmore had Tristan wrapped around her finger and didn't even realize it.

"I know." Tristan ran his hand through his short hair, managing to mess up the spikes even more than it had been before.

"Do you ever brush it?" Carter asked, referring to Tristan's hair.

"Nope."

"So Thanksgiving huh?" Something told Carter that Tristan wasn't going to find a way to back out of the situation.

"Yeah."

"Are you going to take Rory?"

"Why would I subject her to that?" Tristan didn't like anyone meeting any of his family besides his grandfather. The rare times that his parents passed through London Tristan refused to let them come up to school, meeting them in London and forbidding his friends to show up in the city and meet them. His parents weren't nice people and no one needed to be forced to spend time with them. Hell, he wished he could get away from them himself. Besides, his parents would put on an act making everyone think he was lying about the way that they really were.

"Because if you don't she's probably going to spend it alone out here." While Carter didn't really understand the holiday he grasped the concept of a weekend when family got together.

Tristan thought about his friend's comment, realizing that it was true but still not wanting to bring Rory to anything involving his family. Besides, it would bring her close to her own family, he couldn't guarantee that her grandparent's wouldn't be there and maybe she wanted to avoid them. It would be rare for her mother to be there, especially since Lorelei wasn't talking to her parents. "I didn't think of that."

"Your grandfather will love her."

"But her grandparents could be there," he reasoned.

"That's a bad thing?" Carter didn't understand the way people from money behaved. Families weren't families in that world.

"I don't know. Maybe she doesn't want to see them, or maybe she has other plans. Her father could be coming back."

"She would have told you, or he would have. He was just here."

"I guess."

"Are you going to say something to her?"

"Maybe." Tristan shrugged. "I have to talk to my grandfather first. I'm still trying to convince him to just come out here and ditch my parent's request for quality family time. I'm sure there'll be some client there that they want to impress with their son who attends Oxford."

"Really?" It always sounded like the DuGrey's used their son to make themselves look better. They had no really concern about Tristan's well-being at all.

"Welcome to society; it sucks." Tristan groaned, he had no interest in dealing with the situation. As if someone was listening to his plea to stop thinking about everything his phone rang. "Thank you," he answered without greeting the person.

"Be thankful it was me and not your parents." The older voice said, the smile on his face evident even through the phone.

"I'm in no mood for a lecture; besides I made sure to check the caller id, especially after last time."

Janlan DuGrey laughed. His son and daughter-in-law reported that Tristan had answered the phone inappropriately the last time they spoke and both Janlan and Tristan had gotten a severe talking to. It seemed that Eric and Jacklyn DuGrey thought Janlan had more control over their son then they did. And it was true. Janlan held all the power in Tristan's world, because at least he cared. He may want, and expect, Tristan to take over the family business but Janlan cared about his grandson's happiness and Tristan appreciated it more then he could ever say. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," Tristan answered truthfully, though he couldn't hide the exhaustion in his voice. With an apologetic smile towards Carter, he walked into his room and closed his door in order to talk to his grandfather privately.

"That's the truth?" Janlan knew his grandson and the young man certainly didn't sound okay. "Is everything okay with Miss Gilmore?" Tristan had told his grandfather everything about Rory, explaining her current situation even though the older man had heard almost the entire story through the Hartford grapevine.

"She's…" He ran a hand through his hair, trying to find the words. "She's okay…I guess."

"That doesn't sound good. Did everything go okay last weekend?" He knew of the elaborate plans Tristan had for the young woman's 21st birthday.

"Better actually. Her father decided to come out and visit for the weekend as well, staying through Tuesday. Added to the surprise of her friend from Yale she loved everything."

"Rothschild's son, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Do you know them?"

"I've met the adults once or twice but never their son. Nice people, strange, but that's probably the cultural difference. Not your typically society parents."

"That would explain a lot about Finn actually," Tristan said with a laugh.

"But the weekend was successful?" Janlan knew how hard Tristan worked to make the weekend special despite Rory's mother being absent from the huge milestone.

"As successful as it could be without Lorelei around. She misses her mother…a lot. It tears her apart."

"I'm sure it does. They were very close. This whole situation is such a surprise."

"For Rory too. I just wish I could do something to help her."

"You are," Janlan reassured him.

"I'm not too sure about that. She's still so sheltered and quiet. A shell of the girl that I remember; a shell of the girl Finn knew her as—or so he says and he's the one that had contact with Rory last before everything went wrong."

"You're there for her, constantly, and she knows that. She can count on you without worrying too much that you'll disappear. That's a big deal."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am." The old man smiled, happy that his grandson was not only growing up to be a fine young man but had fallen in love with such a wonderful young lady. Janlan had met Rory at a party of her grandparent's a few years back and had been impressed. He knew then that she would make some man very happy one day. "Have you thought about Thanksgiving yet?"

Tristan groaned. "I really don't understand why you can't come here."

"Don't whine," Janlan scolded. "And it's not that I can't come to you I just think it'd be nice of you to come home since your parents won't be around for the holidays."

"When have they ever been around for the holidays? They were never around for Thanksgiving either. What's going on?" Immediately he was suspicious about why he needed to be there so badly. Usually his grandfather didn't push a visit, no matter what his parents said or demanded.

"I know, but they'd still like you home and I think it would do you good to go."

"I don't want to."

"I realize that and I sympathize but I still believe you should go. Now I can't force you since you are of age, but they can make life miserable if you don't grant them this."

"Gramps," Tristan started, "what about Rory?"

"What about her?" He was unsure how the young woman fit into this part of the conversation.

"I can't leave her alone over Thanksgiving."

"She won't be alone, she'll have everyone else. All those other friends of yours."

He sighed. "I know that, and she's even made some new friends on her own, but still. It's Thanksgiving. She shouldn't be alone, especially with people she can't talk to yet. And by talk I mean really talk. People who understand why she's crying all day and won't want to get out of bed."

"You know this for a fact?"

"She told me all she wanted to do was eat pumpkin pie and vanilla ice cream in bed. Maybe a little turkey but she wasn't sure about that part, she's not sure of where she could get turkey here." Tristan smiled remembering that conversation.

"Bring her along," Janlan said simply.

"What?"

"Bring her back with you. She can have Thanksgiving dinner with us. It'll give me a chance to meet her, she'll have a chance to get away from England for a while and you won't be alone with your parents all that often."

"You really think company will make them behave?" Tristan knew that when his parents started they rarely cared about who was listening. They would have on problem embarrassing and insulting him in front of her. He didn't want her to see his family up close. His grandfather was one thing, his parent were another.

"Okay, maybe not," he relented, "but still, invite her along. She may want to come."

"She won't be able to see her mother, or go back to her hometown."

"Invite her father to dinner. Your parents won't care, he's a Hayden after all."

"I guess I can ask her. Can I say no to the invitation if she won't come along?"

"Tristan…"

"Come on Gramps." He couldn't believe his grandfather would want him to leave Rory over a holiday weekend.

"I'm sorry, you need to come here, with or without Rory. She can't be the center of your entire world. You have other responsibilities."

"Wow. Could you sound any more like my father?" Tristan rarely heard his grandfather issue 'demands' like that. Of course the tone was nicer than Eric DuGrey's but it was still as firm.

Janlan sighed. He hated forcing Tristan to do things—Eric and Jacklyn did that enough, he needed to be the fun grandfather. The truth of the matter was, however, that Tristan was taking over the family business and with that responsibility came many others, and he needed to be prepared to handle them. Of course Thanksgiving dinner with the family seemed like it was an awful idea, and it probably was, but Tristan needed to show his face and start practicing how to pretend he could stay in the same room with his parents for a few hours. They could fight and throw things and hate each other before and after, but for the few hours that they were entertaining the DuGrey's needed to look like a family and Tristan had to get used to the idea. Of course Janlan always thought that once Tristan found the proper woman to settle down with she would be able to keep him in check during these family engagements. She would understand the responsibilities and the need of someone in Tristan's position, support him and help him understand it as well. Now Rory Gilmore was never the one that he saw in that position, his wife had been equally surprised when their grandson started talking about her, but she wasn't a bad choice either. They had pressed Eric hard to stop him from arranging his only son's marriage and wanted to see Tristan end up with someone that could be forever, instead of number one or "the woman my parents made me propose to". "I'm sorry," he said out loud. "I know this isn't what you want to hear and normally I wouldn't be saying it, but you are going to have responsibilities one day and you need to understand them."

"I _do_ understand them."

"Obviously you don't." His voice was harsher then he had hoped. "I know that you're frustrated and want to see your parents as little as possible but you haven't been in the same room with them for almost a year and a half…"

"I know, it hasn't been enough time," Tristan half mumbled.

Janlan ignored the comment. "…and it's time that you showed your face. You're the heir, you're going to start working in this company after you graduate and you need to get used to the idea."

Tristan didn't feel like arguing about this anyone, he didn't want to talk about returning to Hartford or seeing his parents or taking over the family business. If he had it his way he'd take his inheritance and simply get a job doing something he enjoyed. Of course he had no idea what that would be since the only thing he was allowed to think about doing once he was older was taking over the business, but Tristan was sure once given the chance he could discover who he really was and what he wanted from life. "Is Grams there?" As much as he loved his grandfather he was done getting lectured about family responsibility.

Janlan sighed. He knew that his grandson was annoyed with him and he hated putting a slight barrier between them but he had to do it. After all, it was better coming from him, someone he knew loved him and cared about him, then his father who only thought about what was best for himself. "Yes she is, waiting impatiently to talk to you too. She's dying to hear more about Miss Gilmore."

Tristan rolled his eyes. His grandparents were wonderful people, but his grandmother was always trying to marry him off. Of course the girls she picked weren't too bad, they were usually ones he would have chosen himself or did choose himself but there was no one his grandmother wanted him to marry then Rory Gilmore—and they'd never even met! "Bye Gramps, love you." As much as he was annoyed with his grandfather, the man still loved him and Tristan valued that.

"Love you too," Janlan replied, knowing that Tristan needed to hear it. "Maggie, he wants to talk to you." The words were quieter to Tristan since Janlan held the phone away from him.

"Tristan!" Maggie DuGrey's happy voice came through the phone lines. "How are you?"

"I'm okay Grams, how are you doing?" He smiled thinking of his grandmother sitting in his grandfather's study looking no older then 45 in her trendy outfit and understated but expensive jewelry.

"Just fine; Janlan said you're coming back for Thanksgiving, I'm so happy to hear that. We haven't seen you a long time." Tristan groaned and Maggie laughed. "I know you don't want to show up, but you really need to. You have…"

"I know, I know, I have responsibilities to my family that I must keep. I've been away far to long and need to step up. Bring Rory Gilmore if she'll come along, and that will make you happy but you must spend Thanksgiving dinner with your parents." Tristan imitated his grandfather's voice.

"Don't forget that the two of you will be staying with us. We wouldn't force you to live with your parents for the weekend; there's no telling if everyone would survive."

Tristan laughed, his grandmother was always good for making him smile even through the worst situations. "Why can't you two just come out here like you did last year?" He complained, thinking his grandmother had never been able to resist him before.

"Don't even try it!" Maggie scolded him, knowing exactly what he was doing. "Your grandfather is sitting here giving me the evil eye, making sure I don't give into you. You know I hate saying no to you."

He could see the situation his grandmother talked about and shook his head. "I know, I was banking on that."

"Awful child!" She smiled at her husband before continuing with her grandson. "So, tell me all about your young lady…"

"She's not mine Grams, and I've already talked to you about her." She had grilled him for all of the details when he had first started talking about Rory's return and she never let him end it all there.

"I'm sure something new has happened…tell me about this weekend. It was her birthday, wasn't it? You were planning something big, yes? Flew an old friend from home in?"

Even though he knew that his grandparents loved him, really loved him, Tristan was constantly amazed with how much they remembered of what he told them. "Yeah, it was. And I did fly him in—she loved seeing him. I haven't seen her smile like that too often. Her dad came in too."

"Christopher? Really?" Maggie had met Christopher Hayden when he was younger; he and Lorelei were Eric's age.

"Yes. He surprised Rory, she loved that he was there. It meant a lot…especially with everything going on with her mother."

"Yes, Emily has mentioned how hard it is for her to be estranged from her daughter and know that her granddaughter is miserable misses her mother. She never wanted this to happen," Maggie mentioned, recalling the conversation she'd had with Emily Gilmore the day before.

"Unfortunately it has happened and it's tearing Rory apart. I wish I could do something for her."

Maggie heard the frustration in his voice. "You are doing something for her. You may not be able to make things better with her mother but you're there for her and she knows that and that's huge."

"I know."

"And I know that you would like to be more then her friend but she needs a little time to try and get over the chaos that happened before she left and then she'll see what's been staring at her in the face all this time." She hoped she was reassuring him.

"I hope so," Tristan answered. He knew his grandmother was concerned for him as well as for Rory and found her even sweeter because of it.

"Tristan! You in here?" He heard Addison's voice and then everyone else's as they entered the room.

"Grams, sorry to cut this short but apparently the gang's all here." He actually didn't want to stop talking to his grandmother but there was no use now that anyone out there could hear their conversation.

"Are you okay?" She was still concerned for him, knowing how much it killed him to see the woman he loved in so much pain.

"I'm not too sure, but that's okay." Tristan was honest with his grandparents, it was how their relationship stayed the way it did.

"Well anytime you want to talk," Maggie told him.

"I know Grams." And he did. Almost once a week he woke his grandparents up in the middle of the night needing to talk to them about something. They were amazing people and he cherished them.

"Alright, well I love you Tristan," the older woman said.

"I love you too. Have a good night, do something wild and crazy!" Tristan smiled knowing that his grandparents led a life that was quite active; a life outside of the DAR and boring functions they had to attend.

"We will!" Maggie assured him. "Have fun tonight." She hung up the phone gently and turned to look her husband in the eyes. "He loves her."

"I know." Janlan nodded his head with a smile.


	14. Unwelcome Surprises

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm awful I know. I've tried sitting down multiple times the past two weeks to post this chapter and it just didn't happen. Then I lost Internet for a week so that sucks. Big, huge, ginormous question for y'all: anyone else have a mac and having trouble with using Safari? All of the sudden I can't see my stories in my profile to update; I have to use Firefox and I really hate doing that. Anyone have a suggestion as to why?

Anyway, sorry again for the delay. I promise promise promise that I'll try to update much sooner than I have been. Hopefully next week at some point being that I'll be away all weekend. Oh, and thank Kim for being my extra motivation to post!

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 14: Unwelcome Surprises**

"Hello?" Having just got out of class Rory was headed for the library to finish up one paper and start on the second when she answered her phone.

"Rory! Where are you?" Ella's voice came through the phone, somewhat nervous sounding.

"Ella? What's wrong?" She'd never heard her friend sound like this before. "I'm on my way to the library, is everything okay?"

"Um yes, but…"

"What's going on?"

"Your grandparents are here," Ella said quickly.

"What?" Rory stopped walking, unprepared for what her roommate said.

"Your grandparents are here to surprise you, they're waiting."

"Richard and Emily?" She wasn't fully grasping what was going on.

"That's what they're calling themselves, yes," Ella confirmed.

"Great, just great. They couldn't even warn me," Rory muttered to herself. "Okay, I'm on my way. Let them know that." She hung up her phone and turned in the direction of her room hoping that her grandparents wouldn't say too much before she got there. Ten minutes later, slightly out of breath, Rory threw the door to her dorm open. "Grandma! Grandpa! This is a surprise, what are you doing here?" She hoped there was a smile on her face as she said this.

"We can't come visit out only granddaughter?" Emily asked, standing from her spot on the couch to hug Rory.

"Of course you can." Rory returned the hug. "I just thought you would have called first. Things are just so crazy here."

"Oh, we know that," Richard interrupted, giving her a hug as well, "but we couldn't just ignore your birthday. We wanted to come and see you. Take you out this weekend."

_You couldn't ignore my birthday, but mom sure could and she's the one that gave birth to me!_ Tossing that thought aside Rory smiled at her grandparents. "You really didn't have to fly all the way out here, Dad was here last weekend." She tried to reassure her grandparents that she still had a good time on her birthday even if she was so far away from her family.

"Of course we didn't have to, but we wanted to. It's not just for your birthday though. It seems that your grandfather and I are going to be away for the holidays this year, so we wanted to make sure we saw you beforehand."

"You're going away?" It wasn't that Rory thought she'd be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with her grandparents but she was surprised to find that it wasn't even an option.

"I have some business I must take care of that will bring me out of the country the week of Thanksgiving and your grandmother has decided to accompany me," Richard explained to his granddaughter noticing the slight look of disappointment on her face that she tried to hide.

"Rory? Are you okay?" Emily asked, noticing her granddaughter's face as well.

"Of course Grandma. Why wouldn't I be?" Rory pasted a smile on her face while looking at her grandmother. "How long are you two here for? Are we going to dinner?" She was determined to enjoy the small amount of time she had with her family while she could.

"We're going to be in the country through the weekend. Of course we're planning on taking you to dinner, but we have another invitation to issue as well."

"Really?" Rory was watching her grandmother, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Your cousins, Lord Alistair & Lady Chloe Gilmour have invited us to a gathering at their estate this weekend."

"Estate?" Rory's eyes went wide as her grandmother spoke. Though she knew she had family in the country, her grandfather grew up here, her great-grandmother Lorelei lived here until she died, she had never heard of them. She didn't even know they were "royalty".

"Yes, their estate," Richard repeated. "Your cousins are hosting it and most of the family will be there, in addition to many of their friends. You don't have plans this weekend, do you? Everyone is looking forward to meeting you. They're very impressed at your ability to attend both Yale and Oxford."

"Then they don't know…" Rory was still aware that Ella was staring at them with great interest.

"No, they do, but family doesn't care about that kind of thing."

Rory snorted. "Yeah right," she spit out, shaking her head. "Oh! Grandma, Grandpa, I didn't properly introduce you to my roommate, did I?" She turned to Ella and smiled. "Ella, these are my grandparents Emily and Richard Gilmore; Grandma, Grandpa, this is my roommate Ella Ramsey."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore." Ella smiled at them and shook their hands.

"You too dear. Are you enjoying your time here?" Emily asked politely.

"I am." Ella nodded.

"Where are you from originally?" Richard inquired.

"Boston," Ella supplied. "I attend Duke University back home."

"Are you Anna and Stewart's daughter?" Emily asked, not expecting to find Rory's roommate to be someone they knew.

"You know my parents?" Ella seemed as surprised as Emily but one look at Rory told her that her roommate wasn't surprised at all.

"We've met them on several occasions, lovely people," Richard told her. "Please send them our regards."

Ella nodded. "Of course."

"Now Rory," Emily focused her attention on her granddaughter, "are you busy? We'd like to take you out for dinner, maybe you'll show us around the campus?"

Hoping that it was a smile etched on her face Rory answered her grandparents. "Of course. Let me put my bag away and grab my purse and I'm all set." She scurried off to her room, leaving the trio to make small talk while she took a deep breath and gathered her things. "I'm ready whenever you are," she announced to her grandparents upon entering the common room.

"Excellent. It was lovely to meet you dear, I'm sure we'll see you again this week." Richard smiled at the young lady.

"You as well Mr. Gilmore. Enjoy your dinner. Call me if you're going to be late Rory?" Ella looked at her roommate.

Rory nodded. "Of course. See you later. Grandma? Grandpa? You ready?"

The elder Gilmores nodded their heads and the trio left, ready for Rory to show them around campus before continuing with dinner. "You're enjoying it here, aren't you?" Richard asked as Rory finished the tour by bringing them to the point at which they started—in front of her dormitory.

"It's actually very nice. I've made some friends, found a bit of a routine. It's not perfect, of course, but it's a start…" She didn't like thinking about how perfect would have her mother in her life, perfect would mean that she wasn't so internally messed up, perfect would include her not depending on Tristan so much, so she tried ignoring all of those thoughts and concentrating on the moment. Sometimes that was easier then others.

"It sounds like a very good start. Now, tell us what you did for your birthday." Richard was leading them to the car, everyone was ready for dinner.

"Oh well, Tristan planned the entire weekend…"

"Tristan?" Emily interrupted.

"Yes. One of my friends here. Actually, he's from home, he went to Chilton with me sophomore year."

"Do you mean Tristan DuGrey? Janlan's grandson?" Richard asked.

"Um…" Rory didn't know the details of his family, he hadn't really opened up to her. Realizing this she couldn't help but think how self-centered she had been to have their entire friendship revolve around her issues. She wanted to hit herself. "I guess so. He left for military school junior year."

"Yes, that's the same one. Maggie mentioned how unhappy she and Janlan were that Eric was doing that," Emily commented with a nod.

"Right, right." Richard nodded his head in acknowledgement. "You two are close?"

"We've become good friends," Rory answered. "It was nice to see a familiar face no matter how long it had been since we'd seen each other."

"Well that's good. He's a fine young man. Janlan said that military school calmed him down a bit. Do you agree?"

Rory nodded. "He's definitely different then I remember him. We're actually friends now."

"That's wonderful! So he planned your birthday weekend?" Emily smiled at Rory while giving Richard a pointed look.

Rory saw the look that passed between her grandparents and knew that they were trying to plan her wedding to Tristan. Tossing that thought aside she answered their question. "Yes, he did. It was very unnecessary of him, but greatly appreciated. We all went to a pub in London."

"Didn't you say Christopher was here?" Emily asked, remembering that little detail from earlier.

"Yes, Dad came out very last minute. He didn't want me to be alone on my birthday," Rory explained.

"He didn't know that you had friends?" Even though Emily knew how close Rory and Lorelei were she didn't always understand that they were best friends. The fact that Lorelei had cut Rory so deeply out of her life had devastated Rory and made it hard to celebrate anything. Rory honestly didn't feel like celebrating knowing how her mother felt about her. Emily just didn't understand all of that.

"Oh he knew, but he knew how upset I would be about turning 21 without…without mom," she said quickly. "So he decided to fly out. He came out with us and everything, really had a good time with everyone. He stayed until Tuesday night too."

"You missed classes?" Richard asked slightly alarmed.

"It's okay Grandpa, there really wasn't anything going on and someone took notes for me in every class. I'm not behind."

"As long as you stay on top of everything…"

"I am, I promise."

"I'm glad that your friends put something nice together for you. I'm sorry that we couldn't be here on your exact birthday though," Emily apologized.

"Don't worry about it Grandma, I understand." Silently Rory thanked her lucky stars that her grandparents didn't come out for her actual birthday. They would not have really enjoyed what Tristan put together, probably wouldn't have been amused by Finn and definitely would have dragged her around the top places in London wanting to celebrate.

"We need to talk to you a little bit more about your cousin's party this weekend," Richard started once they had sat down at the table and ordered dinner.

"Oh really? What's going on? I never knew anything about these cousins, did I?" Rory asked, impatiently awaiting her appetizer, having not realized how hungry she was until she smelled the food.

"Most likely not," Emily told her. "We don't get to talk to them very often, but whenever we're in England we do like to see them. My sister is actually going to be there."

"From France?" Rory asked intrigued. She'd always heard about her Great Aunt Sophie but had never met her.

"Yes, Sophie is going to be there." Emily's smile widened. "I think you'll like her."

"I'm sure I will." Rory smiled at her grandparents. "Anything else I should know about this evening?"

"Well you may not want to, but since you and Tristan are so close, if you'd like to bring him this weekend it would be fine. Your cousins mentioned you bringing a date; they figured a young lady your age would be with a respectable young man," Richard informed her.

Somehow Rory knew that there was a dig in there referring to both Dean and Jess but she refused to acknowledge it. She was happy enough knowing that she didn't have to spend the evening with her grandparents and a lot of family she had never met and didn't know existed until this evening. Tristan wouldn't turn her down, he didn't like disappointing her and she always tried not to disappoint him. Of course Rory didn't think she was as successful as he was but she still made a valiant attempt at it. She couldn't stand disappointing another person—it would be too much for her to handle.

"Rory? Are you okay?" Emily noticed her granddaughter get extremely quiet and her facial expressions change to one of pain.

'What? Oh, yes, I'm fine Grandma. Sorry about that, I got lost in my thoughts. What were you saying?"

Emily and Richard shared a look before Emily answered. "Oh, just that you should invite Tristan this weekend, if he's free that is. He'd be a perfect escort."

Rory smiled. "Of course I'll ask him. I'm sure as long as he doesn't have anything else to do he'll be happy to come along. Will we be meeting you there?"

Richard nodded. "Yes, we have rooms at your cousins estate as well. We're all staying for the weekend, although you two don't have to show up until the party begins if you don't want to."

"That's nice of them," Rory commented on having a place to stay Saturday night. "Is it far from here?"

"From Oxford? Only about an hour and a half north," he told her.

"That should be pretty then. I haven't spent a lot of time that way, but I've driven through it before."

"Really? What's up there?"

"Oh, we've taken a day trip or two." Rory said evasively. As much as she wanted to tell her grandparents about her life here, she had no interest in hearing every single comment they would make on the subject. Besides, she knew that somehow the conversation would lead back to her mother in some way and Rory had no interest in talking about her right now.

Dinner seemed to take a tremendously long time, surprising Rory when she checked her watch to find it reading only 9pm. Her grandparents understood when she asked to go back to complete her schoolwork. "Let us know about Saturday dear. If you're not bringing Tristan then we'll come by and pick you up; otherwise have Toby drive you."

"Yes Grandma," Rory answered in a bored tone. Emily had been telling her the same thing the entire drive back to campus and she was ready to get away from her grandparents. "Thanks for dinner. It was a good surprise. Thanks for the presents too." She collected the few things her grandparents had gotten her and smiled as the car door opened.

"Don't forget to call," Richard reminded one last time.

"Of course Grandpa." With a final smile Rory got out of the car and quickly headed for her room. Ever since befriending Eli and his friends she hadn't been able to walk anywhere without running into one of them or one of Tristan's friends. That little fact made it fairly impossible for her to get from one place to another without running into someone who wanted her to do something else. And then they wouldn't let her say no. She made it into her room without running into anyone and let out a breath as she closed the front door and leaned against it.

"Rough night Mary?"

The male voice jolted her out of her thoughts, causing her to both jump and scream while opening up her eyes. "Way to scare a person! Make some noise next time!" She declared as she moved into the "kitchen" to make some coffee.

"Maybe you should pay a little more attention," Ella called out. "We're sitting here watching television, you were in your own little world."

"Where were you?" Carter asked from his spot next to Ella, not moving his eyes away from the screen.

"Dinner."

"With who?" Addison asked, knowing that she hadn't been with Eli and the others and everyone else she knew was in this room.

"My grandparents," Rory answered watching the coffee brew, silently urging it to brew faster.

"A watched pot never boils," Tristan called out. "Or percolates in this case." He laughed at the smile she was attempting to hold back. "Wait, Richard and Emily were here?" It seemed that Tristan had just realized what she had said about dinner.

"Correct." She nodded and reached for a mug, happy that the coffee was done. Pouring herself a mug full, she walked back towards the "living room", taking the open seat next to Tristan—a seat she was sure someone made for her once she walked in.

"What are they doing here?" He had no idea that they were coming to town.

"Oh, they're here for a late birthday celebration, among other things. Apparently I have royal type cousins that are having a party and since my grandparents are going away before Thanksgiving and not coming back to the States until after New Year's they want to spend time with me. They feel guilty for leaving me alone for the holidays."

"You won't be alone though," Ella protested. "You can come home with me after the term ends."

"You're not staying?" Carter asked, having not thought about what would happen in December.

"Oh," Ella stopped, obviously not having realized what she said, "I'm just going home for the holidays. I finally convinced my parents to let me spend the rest of the year here."

"Big argument?" Rory asked, understanding how society families could be and knowing that Ella had been arguing with them over the end of this year for some time.

"It got easier, I drove my mother insane and I'm Daddy's little girl so…" Rory nodded in understanding. "What is this about royalty?"

"Well, I guess they aren't true royalty, I don't really know. Lord & Lady Gilmour have apparently requested my presence and I agreed to go for some reason."

"It could be fun," Addison argued.

Rory rolled her eyes. "It's simply another one of my grandparents parties filled with rich family instead of friends and no one that I know. Speaking of which…" She looked up at Tristan and smiled. "An invitation was extended to you as well, if you're interested."

"Excuse me?" Tristan had no idea why the Gilmores would be inviting him to a family function.

"Oh, well not from my cousins exactly, but more like from my grandparents. They know that we've been hanging out and all and suggested I bring you along. My cousins have apparently offered us a place to stay in their 'estate' as well. What do you say?" She batted her eyelashes and gave him her Bambi eyes, hoping he wouldn't be able to resist.

"You really want me there?" It wasn't like Tristan could deny her anything, he just found the invitation a little strange. Then again, an invitation like this would make it easier for him to invite her home for Thanksgiving. Especially if her grandparents wouldn't be around for the holiday; if she didn't come home with him he knew that she would be entirely alone and he would not let that happen.

"Yeah, I do," she whispered.

"Then I'll go."

"Really?" She didn't believe that he would give in so easily.

"Really," he repeated with a smile.

"Thank you!" Rory threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight.

"Are you guys finished now? I'd like to watch this!" Katie yelled from her spot on the floor. Rory's answer was to blow a raspberry in her direction.

"Real mature Mary," Tristan said with a 'disapproving' shake of her head.

"Thanks." She smiled up at him prettily.

They continued watching television, each falling asleep at a different time in a different place throughout the room. Sometime later Rory woke up, careful not to disturb Tristan as she untangled herself from him, kissing his cheek and covering him with the blanket they had been using before walking into her room. After the day she had Rory was itching to write to her mother.

_November 15, 2005_

_Dear Mom,_

_It's late Thursday night, I just left everyone asleep in the common room, having fallen asleep watching television. It's the normal group this evening; Tristan, Carter, Addison, Jasper, Ella, Abby, Katie and Isabelle—Addison's other friends not being with us. It was nice to come back to the room and see them even if I wasn't prepared for it. You'll never believe where I was however. It seems that Grandpa and Grandpa are going to be away for the holidays and they wanted to see me. Not only did they want to see me but they're issuing a formal invitation to a party our cousins are throwing. Lord Alistair and Lady Chloe Gilmour are having a gathering that most of the family and many friends will be attending. My presence has been requested, and an invitation for a date—more specifically Tristan—was issued._

_Speaking of him it's getting harder to ignore everything I'm feeling. I don't want to admit anything, I don't want to deal with reality about anything, but I don't want to ignore him either. Tristan is the very best person in my life right now, the very best. The only person that I really count on for everything, and I know that he'll be there. He's proved himself a lot in the past month or two, especially with the whole birthday thing. I've never had anyone put less pressure on me about anything and everything then he has. He doesn't want anything except for me to be happy. Tristan doesn't force me to talk or to do things or want me to be the person that he once knew. He worries about me, tries to get me to go out with people but he pushes nothing. He's an amazing man mom—and yes, I really do mean man. Not many guys my age can honestly take that title but Tristan can. What's more is that he's actually coming to this party with me. What kind of guy is that? Coming to a party that my family I've never met before is having? _

_Oh! The other thing about this party is your Aunt Sophie is attending. Grandma sounded so excited when I asked about her. I remember that they don't get to talk to each other often, being that Sophie is in France and doesn't travel often or far. I wish I could just call you up and tell you all about what happened today, but I can't. I just can't get myself to dial the numbers. I wish you would have taken my number from Grandma, if for no other reason then to have it in case of an emergency but you didn't and nothing can change that now. I hope things are okay with you mom, I hope you're planning your wedding to Luke and enjoying being engaged. I'm sure Sookie is making the most amazing meal and the cake…oh boy the cake. I can only imagine. _

_I miss you mom._

_Love you,_

_Rory_

She folded up the letter and placed it in a box hidden in one of her drawers where the others were. One day she hoped her mom would read them all but right now she had no plans on sending them.

"Rory?" His sleepy voice was heard from her door and she couldn't help but turn towards him and smile.

"What are you doing up?" She asked.

"What are you doing?" He returned, shuffling towards her bed and laying down.

"Nothing interesting," she said evasively not wanting to talk about the letters. She hadn't said anything thus far and didn't want to start the conversation when they were both so tired. "Tired still?" She laid down on the bed with him, her head on his chest, sighing when his arms wrapped protectively around her back.

"Yeah. You?" His voice was soft indicating that he was falling asleep again.

"Yeah." She snuggled a little bit closer to him before closing her eyes and falling into a peaceful sleep while listening to his heartbeat. Tristan was asleep within seconds after her, wanting to make sure she was really okay before letting his exhaustion take over his body. He had wanted to talk to her about Thanksgiving tonight, that's why he had shown up at her place to begin with, but that could wait until tomorrow when they were both rested and she wasn't thinking about her grandparents or her mother so intently.


	15. Return the Favor

**AN:** Sorry for the delay, I didn't realize how long it'd been since I've updated. Enjoy.

**Chapter 15: Return The Favor**

"Wow, you look...wow. How come I don't look like that?" Ella asked as Rory came out of her room fastening her earring.

It was a quarter to six and while Rory was putting on the finishing touches to go to her cousin's party with Tristan, Ella had been getting ready for a fancy dinner with Carter. He wanted to celebrate their three-month anniversary in style and she didn't object. Though Rory hadn't anticipated any formal occasions during her stay at Oxford, under Emily Gilmore's strict packing rules she was 'forced' to bring two such dresses with her--both of which her grandmother picked from her closet. All Rory did this evening was pick the black one over the blue and get ready. Apparently she looked good though. "Really?" She questioned her roommate. "My grandmother packed the dress, I didn't think I'd have to wear anything fancy here."

"Really? You look amazing, who is it?" Ella herself was wearing a Jessica McClintok dress. "Wait...is that Versace?" Although Ella's family had money, her mother didn't allow such extravagant purchases. Alissa Ramsey hadn't grown up with a lot of money, she married into it, and even after 24 years of being in society still couldn't rationalize spending money on an original Versace. "I swear I saw that on runway pictures from last year--Milan and Paris it was shown, wasn't it?" She stared at Rory with wide, jealous eyes.

"What?" Rory hadn't paid attention to the dress figuring her grandmother chose something appropriate but Ella's comments made her stop and look at herself closely. "Oh my god." She ran back into her room, threw the closet door open and screamed.

"Rory?" Ella watched as her roommate suddenly came back to life after her Versace comment, having been practically on autopilot before that. She stood by as the other girl ran into her room and scream. Ella moved to the doorway of Rory's room and looked on as Rory tore the dress from her body and threw on her robe, picking up her phone and waiting for someone on the other line to answer.

"Grandpa? Hi, it's Rory. I just wanted to let you know that I'm running late...well about a half-hour, forty-five minutes. I had a problem with my dress. I promise we'll be there though. Yes we. Tristan is coming with me, just as you asked. Okay...so you'll explain to Grandma? Thanks. See you soon." Hanging up her phone she took a minute more to look at her closet before placing another call, asking the person to pick her out another dress and telling her to have it brought to the room immediately.

"Mary?" Tristan's voice rang through the dorm.

"Ella? You ready?" Carter's voice called out, having shown up with his roommate.

Ella left Rory's room to greet the guys. "I'm ready but Rory isn't."

"Why not? She ordered me to be on time." Tristan smiled as he remembered that conversation.

"Beats me. All I did was compliment her and drool over her Versace dress and she threw it off and screamed. She's crazy." Ella shook her head, just about ready to give up on getting to know and understand her roommate.

Tristan shook his head, deciding to deal with Ella's attitude at a later date and focus on Rory. "Okay, then we're going to be late," he summed up, not really caring. "You guys go and have a good time, happy anniversary." He watched them leave before heading to her room. "Mary?" She was sitting on he bed, simply sitting, hair and make-up done, shoes on, in a robe. "What happened? Dress wasn't right? Ella said you looked great."

"Oh...um..." She didn't know how to explain it to him. "It just wasn't right."

"Why not?" He could tell she didn't want to talk about it but he didn't care, she was going to.

"Didn't look right."

"I find it hard to believe that an authentic Versace dress could fit wrong." He wasn't letting her get out of an explanation and thought maybe some humor could lighten her up a bit. She looked a little shell shocked sitting there.

She groaned. He wasn't going to let it go, he wanted details. Better to get it over with then. "Alright, so it fit perfectly, just as it always did. But then again why would anything a Huntzberger buys be less than perfect?" The bitterness in her voice wasn't lost on him as he watched her face contort while saying his name.

_Ah so that's what it is, Logan bought her the dress_. "Well of course a Huntzberger would want nothing but perfection. I know he hates his family and all but the perks are nice I'm sure." He felt like he had run a marathon when he saw her smile. "If the dress was from him and you don't want it, why'd you bring it? And what's wrong with the blue one of the floor? It matches your eyes perfectly, I'm sure you looking stunning in it." He pointed at the item he was speaking of.

"That's what he said when he showed up at my door with it. Well he wasn't at the door when I opened it but that's not important." Rory stopped herself from thinking about the occasion he presented the dress to her. "My grandmother packed the dresses, I didn't think I'd need any formal wear this year." As she finished her sentence, the doorbell rang and she jumped. "That's my dress! Hold on." A few minutes later she returned with a dress bag and saw Tristan's surprised look. "I dropped my cousin's name and it worked," she told him with a shrug. Rory headed into the bathroom to change, coming back into her room five minutes later. "What do you think?" She asked Tristan, twirling around to show him the entire dress.

"Gorgeous." The dress was black, strapless, tea length with a flowing skirt. "It's Vera Wang, isn't it? Tristan asked as she locked the door behind him.

"There's something wrong with you society boys. You all know designers simply by looking at the outfit. It's disturbing really."

"When you're surrounded by girls who only care about labels, you learn young," Tristan explained as they got in the waiting car and headed for the party.

"I guess so."

"You've met the girls Mary, you know how superficial they can be. Do you remember Chilton? I'm sure that Huntz and his friends took you to some parties where you met some of the most detestable and stupid girls of your life; those are the ones we grew up with. They care more about who made your dress, if it's an original, and what kind of gossip you know; those girls could care less about what you know or what's going on in the world or anything real like that."

"True. I try to block those people out of my mind though. I've definitely met a few. My grandparents friends grandchildren aren't all wine and roses." She scrunched her nose up as she remembered some of the people her grandparents had introduced her to.

"Exactly. Now, what is going to happen tonight?" He had been to his fair share of parties but never anything with 'royalty'.

Rory nodded. "I have no idea what to expect. Anything could happen."

He laughed. "Like what?"

Knowing that he was teasing her, Rory glared and shrugged. "I don't know what, _anything_. I just wish I didn't have to go. Thanks for coming along, by the way."

"Anything for you Mary." He smiled at her. "So you've never met any of these people before?"

"Only my grandparents." She laughed when he glared at her. "My grandmother's sister Sophie will be here, I'm really excited to meet her. Grandma's told me great stories from when they were younger."

"So it's your grandmother's family then?"

Rory thought about it for a minute. "I didn't really think about it, but yeah, I guess it is." They arrived at the party 20-minutes later—the silence in the car had been comfortable and comforting. Tristan took her hand and escorted her inside, leaving Toby to bring their bags to the proper spot.

"Rory! Here you are!" Emily exclaimed when she saw them enter the main room.

"Hi Grandma, how are you?"

"Just fine dear. You look beautiful; I thought your grandfather said you had a problem with your dress. And how could you have had a problem with it? Didn't Logan get it for you?"

Rory digested her grandmother's words, wanting to spit fire at the knowledge that her grandmother had while she packed the dresses; the older woman knew Logan had bought her the dresses but packed them anyway. While Rory knew Emily could be thoughtless at moments, she really thought her grandmother would respect her a little more than that. She felt Tristan take her hand in his and was grateful for the action. "Yes he did Grandma," she hoped she sounded calm, "but it just didn't fit right. You remember Tristan, don't you Grandma??" Rory desperately wanted to change the topic.

"Mrs. Gilmore." Tristan smiled and kissed Emily's hand.

"Tristan, how nice to see you. We just saw your grandparents the other day, they miss you, you know."

"They're doing well I hope? I haven't spoken to them in a few days."

"Quite well. Maggie said they're planning something big for Thanksgiving and you're coming home for it."

Tristan felt Rory's wide eyes on him, waiting for his response and he got nervous. She would either yell at him for not telling her he was going home, be hurt that he didn't invite her, or yell at him for leaving her alone over the holiday. Well, that was what he _wanted_ her to do. Knowing Rory she would just be upset he didn't tell her. "They've forced me into coming home," he said with a grin. Though he was looking at Emily Tristan was explaining to Rory. "Apparently my parents won't be around for the holidays and would like to see me before the year ends." He left out the part about the doing business in London in December and not planning on seeing him.

"Well that's a shame. Perhaps we'll see them in our journeys," Emily said with a polite smile.

"Rory! When did you get here? You look stunning." Richard joined them and kissed his granddaughter's cheek.

"Hi Grandpa, we just got here." She ignored the comment about her dress.

"Tristan, how are you?" Richard saw the young man and smiled at him, shaking his outstretched hand.

"Good thank you, yourself?"

"Just fine thanks. I played gold with your father and grandfather this weekend," he told Tristan. "Now come on you two, Alistair and Chloe are dying to meet you." He took Emily's hand and started walking towards the center of the room, leaving the two young people to follow them.

"Emily! Richard! There you are!" A female voice called out.

"Sophie!" Emily's smile grew as her sister approached. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Alistair and Chloe have outdone themselves this time," she said with appreciation. "The estate is simply gorgeous. I didn't think anything could top their home in Monte Carlo."

"Oh yes, that is a beautiful home as well," Emily recalled. "Sophie, I'd like to introduce to you my granddaughter Rory and her escort Tristan DuGrey." Emily motioned to the two young people standing with them.

Rory's smile grew as Sophie turned her attention to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you Aunt Sophie."

"Really dear, why is that?" The gleam in her eyes was so familiar Rory thought she had been punched in the gut.

"My mother always said everything she learned, she learned from you." Rory smiled as she remembered the stories her mother and grandmother had told her about her Aunt Sophie.

"Yes, Lorelei did learn a thing or two from me, didn't she?" Sophie had a proud look in her eyes while Emily wore a scowl. Though Emily loved her sister, Sophie had broken away from the family, renounced her inheritance, moved to France and purchased a vineyard. A vineyard that she single-handedly brought to great success, one of the most well-known vineyards in the world that makes extremely expensive champagne and regular wines. Sophie was the original wild child and Emily believed she let Sophie indulge in too many stories and trips with Lorelei, causing Lorelei to think it was okay to disown your family. In fact, one of the reasons the sisters had gone so long without speaking was the rift that was caused by Lorelei getting pregnant and running away. Emily felt that Sophie's stories had allowed Lorelei to break free of what was proper and then completely break free when she felt that things weren't as she wished them to be. After all, things hadn't been the way Emily wished them to be either but she didn't just run away.

Tristan watched with interest as the Gilmore's spoke, tightening his grip on Rory when she mentioned her mother. There was obviously something about this woman, Sophie, Rory respected but hated because of the reminder of Lorelei. He tuned back into the conversation when he heard his name.

"You and your young man, Tristan was it? You two should come visit me, do a wine tasting at the vineyard and all. You're at Oxford Emily said, it's a quick train ride to where I am. Of course there are two trains but that's not matter, you can sleep on them. I still can't believe you and Lorelei skipped my home on your last trip through Europe; I would have stayed in a hostel with you!" Sophie could ramble and talk as quickly as Rory or Lorelei, maybe it really was a family trait.

"Sophie!" Emily's exclaimed, obviously disgusted.

"What? Daddy never let me when we were younger and I've always wanted to! What better excuse then staying with my niece and great-niece as they backpack through Europe?"

"Father never let us stay in hostels because they're dirty and disgusting."

"That's all part of the fun Grandma," Rory interrupted. "Besides, it's better then staying with the pimps we met along the way. They would have _paid_ us to stay with them after all, you should be happy we stayed in hostels!" Though Lorelei wasn't there to laugh and Emily scowled, Tristan and Sophie laughed and Richard even cracked a smile.

"You are your mother's child," Sophie said with a grin.

It wasn't the first time Rory had heard that, but it was the first time that someone had said it to her recently and it made her want to cry. She used to love hearing it, but now it just reminded her of everything that had gone wrong. Rory felt Tristan squeeze her hand, as if knowing she was upset by the comment, and looked over at him with an appreciative smile. Sometimes she didn't know what she would do without him. While she was looking at him, however, she missed the look that passed between the adults standing around them.

"Richard! Emily! Is this Rory? I thought you were going to bring her over to us when she got here!" A male voice boomed from behind causing Richard to turn around as he spoke.

"We were on our way Alistair when Sophie stopped us," he explained.

"Ah yes, Sophie. Always one to disregard proper etiquette. One of the many reasons we love her." Alistair smiled at his cousin. "You must be Rory," he said while looking at the only woman in the group he did not know. The first thing he noticed, however, was her astounding blue eyes and the death grip she held on the hand of the young boy standing next to her—not that he seemed to mind.

"Yes sir," she answered politely. "Thank you for extending the invitation to include me and Tristan—as well as a place to stay this evening."

"Such good manners—your grandmother has taught you well. It must skip a generation, don't you think Emily?" He turned to his cousin.

"It is possible-though Rory has more of Lorelei in her than appears at first."

"Really? I always enjoyed your mother's smirk." A smile spread on his face as he obviously recalled some wild story about her. "A regular rebel without a cause, your mother is."

"Nice reference," Rory said quietly.

He smiled at her. "Okay, time for formal introductions; Chloe!" He pulled his wife over and looked at Richard—as introductions were typically a role then man took.

"Lord and Lady Gilmour may I present my granddaughter Lorelei Leigh Gilmore the third, known as Rory, and her escort Tristan Janlen DuGrey. Rory, Tristan," he turned to the pair, "these are your hosts, and Rory's cousins, Lord Alistair and Lady Chloe Gilmour."

"Rory! A pleasure to finally meet you!" Chloe swept her up in a hug, forcing her to let go of Tristan's hand and return the gesture. "Richard and Emily have told us so much about you."

"It's nice to meet you as well…" She had no idea how to address them.

"Oh please forget the titles. Call me Chloe."

Rory nodded. "It's nice to meet you Chloe. The…um…estate is gorgeous." She felt awkward calling it an estate.

Chloe laughed. "Thank you. Have you seen the library? Richard had mentioned her love of books.

"Library?" Her eyes lit up for the first time that evening.

"Come on!" Tristan whined, one of the few words he had uttered upon entering the main room with Rory. "If you go into the library now we'll never see you again!" Everyone laughed at his complaint. "And then we'll miss the food. Isn't missing the food against the Gilmore girls rule book?"

"The Gilmore girls rule book?" Sophie asked. "What's that?"

"Something mom and I created," Rory said before answering Tristan. "Yes, it is against the rules. Rule 7.3 is thou shall not skip any meal or forfeit food unless said food is unidentifiable to or known to be disgusting by a Gilmore girl."

"Oh, I like these rules! I want to hear more!" Chloe said.

"Mom probably has a pink, sparkly, feathered book containing them all somewhere at home."

"Knowing your mother she probably does," Emily said with mild disgust. Rory just shrugged.

"So how's the food?" Rory asked her cousins.

"Go see for yourself, let us know if it's acceptable and what we should change for the next time," Alistair requested.

Rory nodded. "Sure will. Come on." She grabbed Tristan's hand and led him towards the food, making a detour towards the bar. If she was going to be talking about her mom all night she'd need to consume a lot of liquor.

"You doing okay?" Tristan whispered as they left the bar to find the food.

"I guess so." She shrugged. "Don't think I've forgotten about Thanksgiving Bible Boy," she warned him.

"I never thought you would Mary." Which was the truth, he never thought she'd let the situation slide without any kind of conversation.

An hour and a half later found them searching for the library. Rory could no longer take the questions, stories and comparisons involving her mother and asked Alistair if she could look at his collection. "Found it!" She yelled after opening another door, Tristan following her in and closing the door behind him. He watched as she reverently touched the spines of the books while reading the titles, thinking she had forgotten he was even there. "You're going home for Thanksgiving?" She asked suddenly.

Although she probably didn't want him to her it, he could detect the hurt in her voice. "My grandparents issued a demand," he told her sadly.

"Not your parents?" Rory asked surprised; Tristan always made it sound like he had a good relationship with his grandparents, it was his parents that were the problem.

Tristan shook his head. "They know I won't come back unless my grandparents demand it."

"Oh."

"There's more though," he said reluctantly.

"More?" Rory didn't know what else there could be. "Are they making you transfer to the US?" There was a bit of fear in her voice that even she didn't recognize. Rory couldn't imagine losing her best friend now.

"No!" He answered quickly.

"Then what more could there be?" She asked slightly confused.

"Your presence has also been requested."

"Excuse me?"

"My family wants to meet you. I've been told you are to join me in Hartford, especially since you have no family to celebrate with in England. There isn't even Thanksgiving here and your grandparents won't be home. You are to come dine with the DuGreys." He was watching her closely for a reaction. "But at least we'll be staying with my grandparents, they're cool."

"Okay."

"Okay? That's it? No argument?" He was surprised.

"Not worth it," she said with a shrug. "I don't want to be by myself and I have no place to go. I'd rather be with you in Hartford then anywhere alone." He nodded his understanding. "But my mother can't find…ugh! What difference does it make? She got engaged and hasn't told me! She could be married by now and I wouldn't know it!"

"Mary…"

"What? It's the truth. She could very well be married and I wouldn't know it. Why do I care anyway? It's not like she cares about me or anything." With a shake of her head Rory turned back to the books in front of her. When people had failed her in the past, when things had gone wrong before, she was always able to turn to her books for comfort. There was always someone else in some situation that was worse then her own. She couldn't feel bad for herself when she read certain books, her life was perfect compared to stories of poverty, depression and/or abuse.

Tristan watched as she studied the books in front of her, obviously wanting them to take away her pain. Thinking that once again they could transfer her to a place when her situation was not the worst, remind her that things could be a lot worse then they were right now. People were suffering from all kinds of pains that made her issues seem small in comparison. He looked at her as she moved from one shelf to another, obviously not finding whatever it was that she was looking for and he was convinced she was looking for something in particular. Deciding that he needed to do something Tristan approached her. "This will all work out Rory," he used her real name to stress his point, "it may not seem like it will now but it's going to. You and Lorelei are too connected for this rift to last for much longer." He hoped his words meant something to her but he honestly wasn't sure she would believe them; no matter how much he did.

"You really think so?" Rory asked, not ready to turn around and let him see the tears running silently down her face.

"I do. I've seen you two in action, she's just as miserable as you are, you'll find your way back to each other." His hands clasped her shoulders in a comforting manner and he felt her body relax into his slightly and gladly offered the support she was looking for. "How about we join the party again? I'm sure they're looking for you."

Rory sighed. He was probably right about that. Although she had asked if she could look through the library everyone probably expected her to return. After the greetings she had been getting tonight she was beginning to feel like the party was specifically for her. "Okay, let's go." Reluctantly she moved away from his grip and walked towards the door.

"Mary," Tristan called out as her hand reached for the doorknob. "Are you sure you're okay to go back out there? We can always make an excuse up to get to bed early."

She sent him a weak smile. "Thanks for the offer but my grandparents would never forgive me, not to mention my cousins. They'll probably insist I come back."

"What? You don't want to?" He joked with her as the headed for the main room.

"As much fun as Alistair and Chloe seem to be, they're not as fun without my mom." It hurt her to say it but it was true. "Mom's the life of a party like this you know." Although the party wasn't as stiff as some of the events she'd been to with her grandparents and Logan, it was still pretty dull. The difference was in the titles and the accent.

"The way your grandmother tells it, she's a little bit more than the life of the party."

"According to Grandma mom is usually the embarrassment of the party, or the death of it. Though usually it's only Grandma that thinks that."

"I'll remember to invite your mother to all my parties from now one; more specifically all the ones that my parents and their stuffy friends are at."

Rory laughed as they entered the room, a real laugh that was hardly heard from her these days. "That would be good," she agreed. Her mother always made things more interesting.

"So, what did you think of our library Rory?" Alistair's voice was heard from behind them and the pair turned to face him.

"It was excellent, I could spend hours there."

"Hours? Try days Mary," Tristan teased.

"Mary?" Alistair asked confused. Rory shook her head as Tristan started to explain the nickname…it was going to be a long night.


	16. Born in the USA

**Chapter 16: Born in the U.S.A.**

"You're really going home with him?" Ella asked for the tenth time that day.

"You've been asking me the same question all week, why won't you believe me? You're watching me pack right now, believe it, I'm going to America for Thanksgiving with Tristan. You're taking Carter home with you, aren't you?" Rory asked, standing at her closet again. She hadn't packed anything to wear for a weekend with Hartford society and was concerned about it.

"I am," Ella confirmed. "My parents really want to meet him. He doesn't seem nervous though."

"Maybe he doesn't want to appear nervous to you," Rory suggested. "After all, what guy wants to look nervous in front of his girlfriend? The first time L…" She stopped herself from retelling the story of her first trip to the Huntzberger Mansion and Logan leaving his keys in the ignition. There was no reason to retell it.

Ella saw that Rory obviously wasn't going to finish her sentence so she started talking again. She was beginning to get used to Rory stopping her sentences in the middle—the girl never got personal unless she was with Tristan. It was the only time someone could learn something about her. "Do you think Tristan is nervous about you meeting his family?"

She shrugged. "I don't really know. I met his dad once, right before he went to military school."

"What did you think?"

"I'm not looking forward to formally meeting him. He didn't seem like a nice guy then and from what Tristan has told me he's only gotten worse. I'm looking forward to meeting his grandparents though, they sound like great people."

"He always talks about them, he must really love them."

"I think so. And you know how big that is for someone like him." Society life was never easy.

"Are you going to see Finn again? Or your dad?" Ella asked, standing next to Rory and looking in her closet as well. "Take this." She pulled out a dress, skirt and matching top, handing them to her roommate.

"How did you do that?" She looked over the clothes and packed them in the proper spots. "And I don't know. I don't know what the plans are for this weekend."

Ella shrugged in response to Rory's question. "I figured out what you were looking for and since you haven't been to a society function in America in a while I decided to help you out."

"Thanks."

"Sure. And you mean Tristan hasn't told you anything about this weekend?"

"Nope. Just that his grandparents are sending the plane so we don't have to fly commercial."

"Well isn't that nice."

"Don't start, your parents are doing the same," Rory said with a laugh.

"Please, if it were up to my mom they won't be. After all these years she still isn't used to the money she and my dad have."

"I wouldn't be able to get used to it either. It's difficult when you learn to live without it, why people don't understand that I'll never know." Rory shook her head and heard Tristan call out to her from the front door. "In my room!" She called out to him.

Tristan, Carter, Addison and Eli walked through the door and laughed. "Did something blow up?" Addison asked her.

"Yes Addy, my closet."

He groaned. "I thought I told you I hate that name!"

"You did." She smiled sweetly at him.

"You know, it may be easier to go shopping back home with all the stuff you're packing."

"Hey mister! This is what you get when you take a Gilmore girl away for a weekend. Logan learned early the best thing to do was to wait until the last minute and pack something in advance for me. Of course that meant he was always picking my clothes out because he shopped beforehand, of course Paris would put together a bag for me every once in a while with Steph's help but still…"

"Paris actually helped Logan?" Tristan asked surprised. The pair was oblivious to the stares they were getting from their friends.

"Every once in a while when she didn't want to hear me bitch and moan. Or when Steph forced her way into the dorm." Rory laughed at the memories.

"I can't get over the fact that you lived with her for two years. Who would have thought when I left you at Chilton all those years ago that you'd be best friends with your worst enemy."

"You learn to get past her personality faults."

He laughed. "I'd love to hear you say that to her face."

She shrugged. "I've done it before. She growls and then laughs. It's putting it nicely in her mind."

"I see." Tristan just shook his head. "Are you almost ready? My grandparents love me but they don't like to be kept waiting."

"Um, Tris, did you forget to tell them that I'm a Gilmore girl and I always run fashionably late?"

"Meaning fifteen minutes to a half hour?" Ella said with a smile.

"If you're lucky it means a half hour," Tristan informed her. "I've waited for Mary here for up to 45 minutes."

"What can I say, I'm a Gilmore girl." She shrugged and the others laughed. "You did warn them though, right?" She asked Tristan seriously.

"That you're a Gilmore girl? I hate to break it to you babe, but they already know _that_."

She glared at him. "Bible boy! GRRR!" She growled at him and it only caused him to laugh harder. "And just for _that_," she started, "I'm going to repack!" She turned towards her suitcase and pulled everything out, muttering about shoes and another bag.

"We're going to be here for a while," Tristan told them. "Let's watch some television."

"I resent that!" She called out as the boys left the room. "You might want to call your grandparents you know."

"I think you should do it Mary, after all, you're the reason we're going to be late." He appeared in his bedroom and held out his phone.

"What?"

"It's ringing Mary, if you don't pick it up they'll get annoyed with you before you show up."

"Then I won't go!" She pouted.

"That's not an option, even if I have to throw you over my shoulder to get you there. Now my grandfather is waiting, you may want to pick up the phone." Tristan goaded her and she grabbed the phone.

"Mr. DuGrey?" She said timidly. Tristan laughed and she glared at him.

"Who is this? Where's Tristan? What's going on?" The older voice came through the line somewhat gruff.

"Mr. DuGrey, it's Rory Gilmore," she said, her voice still timid, Tristan grinning at her the entire time.

"Miss Gilmore! Aren't you supposed to be on a plane with my grandson right now? What's going on? What has he done this time? Are you two okay?" Janlan immediately went into worry mode and Rory had to laugh.

"Yes, we are supposed to be on a plane, we're running late though, he's done nothing but be an ass and yes, we're fine," Rory answered all of his questions.

Janlan's laughter could be heard through the phone cause the smirk to fall from Tristan's face and Ella to laugh. "An ass is he? What did he do this time?"

"He decided since I was running late and you and your wife don't like tardiness that I should tell you we're going to be late."

"Ah, so he was too chicken to call us, was he?"

"Yes, he was," Rory said strongly. "I didn't realize he was such a coward."

"Hey!" Tristan had enough of this bashing him over the phone. "If this is how it's going to be all weekend I'm not bringing you along!"

"You don't have a choice, remember?" Rory taunted him. "Sorry Mr. DuGrey," she said to the man she was currently ignoring.

"It's okay dear, you give him what he deserves!" Janlan liked this girl already and couldn't wait to meet her in person.

Rory laughed. "I'm sorry but we are going to be late," she said reluctantly.

"That's okay dear, I understand how women are," she could tell he was smiling, "we'll meet you at the airport whenever you get here. Just let us know when you take off."

"We will sir."

"Please, Janlan."

"Okay Janlan."

"We'll see you later tonight Rory."

"See you then Janlan. Goodbye."

"Have a safe flight," he said before ending the call.

"This isn't going to be a good weekend, is it?" Tristan asked as she placed the phone into his hand.

"Depends on how you're looking at it," Rory answered with a smile. She turned back to her suitcase, zipped it up, doing the same with her garment bag before turning back to him. "I'm ready now." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Of course you are. Let's go, shall we?" He picked up both of her bags and motioned for her to go out of the room before him.

"Always the gentleman," she said with a laugh, going into the common room. "You guys doing anything special this weekend?"

"Remember school?" Addison said with a grin.

"Oh, right school. You'll take notes for me?" She asked, looking at him and Eli, between the two of them they were in every class she had.

"We promised you like fifteen times that we would!" Eli told her.

"Just checking. Have a good weekend." She kissed both of their cheeks and walked out the door to where she knew Toby was waiting for them. "Hi Toby."

"Hi Miss Rory, Mister Tristan," he greeted them both. He took Rory's bags from Tristan and added them with his own, which Tristan had dropped off on his way to pick up Rory. "You ready?"

"Let's hit the road." Rory climbed in with a smile and Tristan followed.

"You're excited," Tristan commented once they were on their way to the airport. Since they were using a private plane they weren't going to the major airports and weren't far from the airstrip they were using.

"I guess I am," she admitted. "I don't really know why. I never liked being in Hartford."

"You miss being home though. Well maybe not home, but America."

"I guess so. Hey Tristan?"

"Yes Mary?"

She rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Do we have plans for the weekend? Besides dinner I mean."

"Oh, well my parents are probably throwing some stupid party."

"Really? We have to go?"

"I know I will, but I can probably get you out of it, I don't know who will be there." He was thinking about Logan and his friends, as she was. "Why?"

"Oh, I was thinking it would be nice to see my dad and all."

"Does he know you're going to be here?"

She shook her head. "I didn't know if I should tell him or not. But I know he'd love to see me. You could meet my sister too."

"What about your other grandparents?" Tristan had forgotten about them. "Would they want you to spend Thanksgiving with them?"

"I doubt it, though if they did I wouldn't go anyway." He was going to ask her what she meant by that but the car stopped, the door opened and they needed to board the plane. Once they were seated and in the air, however, Tristan brought it up again.

"Your father's parents wouldn't want to see you for the holiday?" He asked her.

"It's well known that the Hayden's don't like me—they blame me for the everything that 'went wrong' with Dad's life. Meaning that he didn't follow their plan and that's my fault. Like I asked to be conceived when they were 16 or something." She shook her head.

"They're crazy for not wanting to get to know you," he told her quietly.

"It doesn't bother me anymore, really." The passed the rest of the flight in silence, Rory having fallen asleep a few minutes after their conversation had ended. She woke up only when Tristan shook her gently. "What? Tristan?"

"We're here Mary. I don't think we should keep my grandparents waiting any longer, do you?"

She shot up immediately. "Why didn't you wake me earlier? I must look like a mess!" Rory began fixing her hair and pulling at her clothes.

"Rory, stop, it's okay. They don't expect you to look like you walked off the cover of Vogue. You've been on a plane for hours."

"But still, I want to make a good impression!"

"You'll make a good impression no matter what you look like," Tristan promised her. "Come on, let's go." He took her hand and led her down the airplane stares, smiling as he saw his grandparents come into view. "Gramps," he greeted, letting go of Rory's hand to hug the older man. "Grams," Tristan said with a smile as he moved away from his grandfather to greet his grandmother.

Rory watched the exchange between Tristan and his grandparents and could immediately see how he became the person he was today. He may have been a cocky teenager but between military school and his grandparents he managed to straighten himself out. She even noticed the resemblance between Tristan and the man he was named after. "Gramps, Grams, as you requested I have brought one Lorelei Leigh Gilmore, also known as Rory, home for Thanksgiving."

"You call her Mary, don't you?" Janlan asked with a grin.

Rory groaned. "What is it with the DuGrey men not being able to remember my name?"

"Mary, Mary, Mary, I told you once before and I'll tell you again; it's not that I don't remember your name, I simply choose not to use it." He threw her a smirk and she hit his shoulder.

"It's nice to meet your Mr. DuGrey, thanks for inviting me."

Janlan smiled at her but shook his head. "What have I told you about calling me Mr. DuGrey?"

"Sorry Janlan," Rory blushed.

"Maggie DuGrey," the older woman interrupted them. "I was upset that my husband didn't let me speak to you earlier. How was the flight?" She smiled at Rory before hugging her close and kissing her cheeks.

"Could have been worse," Rory answered.

"Well that's good. Now I'm sure that you two are tired, let's get you both home to showers and warm beds." Maggie mothered them both, hurrying them towards the waiting car. Janlan watching the interaction between his grandson and the woman he obviously loved. She seemed to love him back but at the same time was holding herself back from saying anything or acting upon her feelings.

**GGGGG**

"So Rory, how do you like Oxford?" Maggie DuGrey asked the next morning as they were enjoying their coffee. The men had gone off to see Tristan's father at Janlan's insistence, Tristan promising that she didn't need to be present for the confrontation.

"I like it, it's different from university in America."

"Yes, it certainly is," Maggie agreed. "Tristan says you just transferred this semester."

Rory nodded. "I decided to take some time off from Yale, I needed to do so. It's been hard being away from home but I'm managing."

"You and you mother were very close, weren't you?" She asked gently.

"Yes, we were," Rory said sadly.

"You miss her very much."

Rory nodded. "I do, but sometimes people let you down and as much as it hurts not to be with them, it hurts more to see them and be reminded of that pain."

"That's very true dear. You've learned a very hard lesson at a very young age. Things aren't permanent though, they can be changed, sometimes you just need to spend a little time apart before you can come back together."

"But should it really be that way with your parents?" Rory asked out loud. "I don't want a relationship with my mother like she has with hers. We've never had a relationship like that before."

"You've disappointed each other though."

She nodded. "I know that, but shouldn't she be there to help me? I'm her daughter, her likeness. We have never done anything without each other but here she is engaged without telling me; she didn't even want my phone number!"

"But you didn't offer it, did you dear?" She asked gently. "And you didn't tell her you were leaving the country either, did you? That doesn't show her you want to work on things."

"Shouldn't she know? Couldn't she for once act like an adult and take charge of the situation? I know I shouldn't have left but she's the adult dammit!" Rory's anger consumer her and she ignored the tears on her face. "I'm sorry," she said softly a moment later.

"You need not apologize dear," Maggie said, her hand on the younger woman's. "We all have moments. Though I bet you don't have many of them, you keep things to yourself?"

"I do. Tristan tries to make me talk though."

"Yes, he cares a great deal about you."

"I care about him as well," Rory said softly.

"He wants to be more than your friend," Maggie informed her. She didn't know if Rory realized how in love Tristan was with her and while she didn't want to push, she also didn't want to see something slip between their fingers.

Rory looked up at the older woman, knowing that she was only trying to help but still shocked that someone was actually bold enough to tell her these things. No one was around to be blunt with her; that was usually her mother's job. As much as Lorelei loved her daughter, she was always a straight shooter. Unfortunately, Lorelei wasn't there and everyone else walked on eggshells around her. While she understood why they did it, it wasn't necessarily helping her move on. The letters helped, they made her face her feelings and thoughts. After all, that's what talking to her mother would do, the letters did the same thing without the advice that comes about in an actual conversation. "I want that too," she admitted softly. Rory hadn't told anyone how she felt about Tristan, not even her father or Finn. She gathered both of them figured it out and wouldn't have said anything more to Tristan besides to wait patiently for her to come around, but she hadn't told them.

Maggie smiled at the girl's admission, it was what she wanted to hear, to learn, over this weekend. She didn't want her grandson wasting his time on a girl that didn't fancy him. "Then it will work out. He won't leave you." Rory nodded her head slowly, absorbing the words but not believing them. "You don't have much reason to believe me, do you?"

"No," Rory answered her truthfully. She had no reason. Nothing in her life made her believe that anyone who she _needed_ to stick around would. Her father wasn't there when she was younger, her mother wasn't there now, Logan was gone, and it was only normal for her to think Tristan would leave too. After all he had left when they were in Chilton and things started happening between them. She had always wondered what would have happened if he wouldn't have broken into Bowman's dad's safe and got sent away. Would she have broken up with Dean for Tristan instead of Jess? Would Jess have even been a part of her life?

"He won't leave you again," Maggie insisted. "I know he won't."

Rory only nodded her head. "I hope not. I couldn't handle it, especially not right now. I need someone, he's volunteered, and him leaving would seriously damage me." She hated admitting her weaknesses but she couldn't stop the words from flowing. She just needed to talk to somebody about it.

"I understand dear, just have a little faith in him, okay? He likes you, a lot, I don't think I've heard him sound as happy as he did after he found you at Oxford. He won't go anywhere unless you ask him to and he'd do anything you ask him to, no matter how much it hurts him. Remember the power you have over him."

"The power goes both ways," Rory told her.

"Grams? Rory?" Tristan called out as the front door closed.

"Don't scream in the house!" Janlan scolded him, causing the women to laugh.

"In the kitchen Tristan," Maggie answered him. "You can't scold him for yelling by yelling at him Janlan," she told her husband when the men entered the kitchen.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rory asked Tristan as he sat down next to her.

"Taking a sip of your coffee," he answered.

"Excuse me?" Her eyes narrowed on him and he laughed.

"I'm sorry, how silly of me to forget." Shaking his head Tristan stood up and took down a mug, pouring himself his own cup of coffee while bringing the pot over to Rory and filling up her mug.

"Much better," she said in a happy voice.

"You've trained him well it seems," Maggie commented.

"Obviously not well enough, he still took a sip of my coffee before filling it up. Though the mere fact that he drank even a sip of my coffee makes me doubt him."

"Hey!" Tristan objected while taking his seat next to her.

"Be quiet and drink your coffee Bible Boy." She picked up her own mug and smiled at him over rim. Tristan just sat there sulking and drinking his coffee, his grandparents sharing a look and laugh at the unofficial couple.


	17. We Give Thanks

**Chapter 17: We Give Thanks**

"Rory?" There was a knock on the door and Rory heard Maggie DuGrey's voice.

"Come in," she called out. The door opened and closed a second later to reveal an elegantly dressed older woman. "You look fabulous Maggie."

"Thank you dear, you look pretty wonderful yourself."

"Eh, I'm not too sure about this outfit." She pulled at the fabric again, grimacing at her reflection.

"Why not? You'll look even better once you stop fidgeting you know."

Rory laughed. "Yeah. Right." Obviously she wasn't convinced about her appearance. She wanted to look appropriate for meeting Tristan's parents; whether or not either of them were ready to admit it there was something happening between them if his parents didn't like her well…he might not care but Rory sure would.

"Are you nervous?" Maggie walked over to the closet, pulled out the simple pumpkin dress and held it out to Rory. "Try this."

Rory stepped into the bathroom and changed for the tenth time that afternoon. "Grams?" Tristan called through the bedroom door. He saw his grandmother walk into Rory's room and wouldn't have said anything but his grandfather insisted it was time to leave or they would be late.

"Yes Tristan?" The older lady cracked the door to look at her grandson.

"You two ready to leave? Gramps is anxious though I don't think it's for the same reason as me."

She smiled. "Tell your grandfather we'll get there when we get there. Rory and I will be down shortly." Maggie closed the door and turned to the bathroom. "Rory? What size shoe do you wear?"

"Six and a half," Rory answered as she came out of the bathroom.

"Perfect. Come on, grab your stuff, I have the perfect accessories." Maggie led her towards her own room.

"Maggie, Danny is going to be upset if we arrive late," Janlan called from the foyer when her heard a door upstairs open.

"I gave him life, I'll show up when I please. And he will not lecture any of us," she replied firmly. They walked into her room and Maggie went straight into her closet. "You're nervous?" She asked Rory again.

"Wouldn't you be? The last time I saw your son he wasn't very nice to me, and after everything Tristan's said…" Rory remembered the last time she had "met" Daniel DuGrey and even though he hadn't spoken to her directly, the only man she found more intimidating than him was Mitchum Huntzberger. Her fear of speaking with Tristan's father was only fueled by Tristan's dislike of the man.

"Yes, well, Danny…he's never understood Tristan. The two of them are just so different and Danny never really tried to get to know his son. Of course, he wasn't home often enough to try, but," Maggie let out a heavy sigh, "you try so hard to raise them right and have no control on the final product."

Rory could tell that Maggie didn't like the way her son treated his son and blamed herself for that. "It's not your fault Maggie. It sounds like Danny got caught up in work and money and power, like so many people in this world do. What's his wife like?" She didn't even know Tristan's mother's name.

"Eva's a doll. How she deals with my son, well, I have to give her a lot of credit. She and Tristan have a strong relationship though he would never say anything about it. If there's one thing Tristan hates it's being considered a mama's boy." The women shared a smile at the thought. "Unfortunately, she doesn't have the strongest backbone and goes along with whatever my son wants. She never wanted Tristan to be sent to military school but her husband's voice overruled."

The words made sense and Rory nodded in understanding. "Well then I look forward to meeting her." She was about to ask if they had other children but realized how ridiculous it was that she was so involved with Tristan but knew nothing about him. "We should get going, shouldn't we? We're more than fashionably late now." Rory looked at her watch trying to shake the feeling she got from knowing so little about Tristan's life; she felt extremely self-absorbed at the moment.

Maggie saw that something was bothering Rory but looked at the clock and realized the younger woman was right, they were going to be later than society accepted. "Alright dear, let's go." She led the way down the stairs, conversation halted and smiled when she saw her husband pacing the foyer while Tristan watched in amusement. "Well, what are you waiting for? We're going to be late you know." Tristan laughed while Janlan stopped pacing to glare at his wife.

"Yes, I'm quite aware of that _dear_." Rory laughed from behind Maggie, hoping that she could find someone who would play around like that with her all the years they spent together. Three faces turned to look at her with smiles on their faces. "You look lovely dear, now can we please get moving?" He ushered the ladies out of the door, Tristan with a hand on the small of Rory's back, guiding her towards the car. Fifteen minutes later they were pulling in front of a large house, one that was only topped by another rich blonde boy's family.

"You ready for this?" Tristan asked her softly as they walked towards the front door.

Rory laughed. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" She looked up at him, seeing the nervousness he was trying to hide. "Tris?" She waited until he looked at her before continuing. "When was the last time you actually saw your parents?"

Tristan thought about it and realized he didn't have a clear idea. "I'm not sure. The springtime?"

"What did you do all summer?"

He shrugged. "Interned in London. They didn't care since I was doing something that would help them in the long run."

"Come on kids," Janlan called from their spot at the front door, Rory and Tristan lagging behind in the driveway.

"It'll be okay," Rory tried to reassure him, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it tightly.

"Debatable," he said, not being able to get another word in as the maid answered the door.

"Maggie, Janlan! There you are, we were wondering what happened to you." A beautiful blonde woman walked into the foyer, her hair and makeup was meticulous, her outfit obviously carefully picked out and expensive. Rory could only guess that this was Tristan's mother. "Tristan! I'm so glad you're here, I've missed you!" She moved away from her in-laws and towards her son, giving him a huge hug without a worry to her appearance. She was not the woman that Rory had pictured after talking with both Tristan and Maggie. Tristan towered over her by at least two and a half inches and her features seemed so much smaller—obviously Tristan looked like his father.

"Hey Mom, Happy Thanksgiving." He couldn't hold back his smile as his mother hugged him. Although she had probably spent hours getting ready for this evening, including a trip to the salon and a makeup artist come to the house, Eva DuGrey didn't care when it came to her children. She hugged him without worry of getting her clothes wrinkled and he knew that her words weren't empty as his father's would be. "Where are Greg and Emma?"

"They're in the other room with everyone else. Want to practice your excuse for being late on me?" Eva teased her son, knowing that her husband wouldn't believe anything that Tristan told him.

"Grams said she was taking care of that since she is part of the reason we're so late. She promised Dad wouldn't get mad."

Eva laughed. "Your father not be mad at his parents and son for being tardy to a 'very important dinner'? Maggie, I give you a lot of credit." Rory was surprised the way that Eva was speaking about her husband, particularly to his parents; this was actually a woman she could see her own mother liking. Wanting to get thoughts of her mother out of her head quickly Rory turned her attention back to the conversation going on around her, hoping no one noticed how her countenance changed slightly. "Now, you said your grandmother was only part of the reason you were late, would you like to tell me about the other part?"

Tristan grinned at his mother, shaking his head. "Real subtle there mom, _real_ subtle." He looked over at Rory and winked. "Mom, this is Rory Gilmore, an old friend I've recently been reacquainted with at school. Rory, this is my mother, Eva DuGrey."

Eva smiled at Rory and moved in her direction. She kissed her cheeks before speaking. "Rory! It's lovely to meet you, Tristan really hasn't told me that much about you, but I do know your grandparents."

"I'm so sorry," Rory said immediately. She knew that her grandparents had a tendency to bore people with everything that she was doing.

"Nonsense, they're simply proud grandparents. We all want to show off our children and grandchildren," Eva reassured her. "Now, you are the reason that my son is late this evening?"

"Indirectly, yes, I guess I am." She had a feeling that if things were "blamed" on her it would turn out much better. Daniel DuGrey wouldn't yell at a guest, would he? "Will your husband be upset?"

"Oh he's past upset dear. In his mind Tristan should have been here three days ago."

"The world does not revolve around him and what he wants, mom," Tristan interjected to their conversation.

"Excuse me, were we talking to you?" Eva asked, turning around to face her son. Tristan immediately stepped back. "I'm going to find Greg and Emma, Rory, you want to come along?"

"No, Rory and I are going to get to know each other. Go find your brother and sister, Emma's been asking for you all night." She shooed her son away in the direction his grandparents had already gone. "Now Rory, tell me about yourself."

Rory didn't know what to think of this conversation with Eva DuGrey. She was certainly different from Shira Huntzberger, at least at first view, but she knew Eva was a society wife no matter what. "Well, what would you like to know?

"You went to Chilton with Tristan, didn't you?"

She nodded. "He left midway through junior year before performing _Romeo and Juliet_. I was Juliet, he was Romeo."

Eva laughed. "That is certainly is a fitting role, isn't it?" She was slowly leading Rory towards the parlor where everyone was mingling before dinner was served.

"He always has been good with the ladies, it's something with that smile…and the hair."

"You've got it bad, don't you?" She smiled knowingly.

Rory was surprised that Eva not only saw how she felt about her son but actually called her on it. The only one to ever do that was Maggie, although Rory knew her mother would have made her recognize her feelings a long time ago. She blushed at Eva's question. "Tristan's been really good to me these past couple of months. He's changed a lot since I saw him last."

"He grew up," Eva said with a nod.

"Everything okay here?" Janlan asked as he approached the two women who were a little late in entering the room.

"Just fine Dad," Eva answered with a smile. "I guess it's time for you to meet everyone else, isn't it?" She smiled at Rory and noticed her nerves. "You don't have to be nervous, they won't bite. Well my husband doesn't always know how to control his temper and sometimes he and Tristan get along as well as oil and vinegar."

"I've seen that."

"Right, you saw the day that Tristan left for military school. He never got over disappointing you, you know."

To say Rory was surprised at Eva DuGrey telling her all of this information, let alone _knowing _all of this information was an understatement. "Yeah, well, he wasn't very mature then."

"What took you so long?" A serious looking man asked as he approached the trio. "Dinner's going to be ruined if we wait much longer."

Eva looked down at her watch and then back at her husband. "Daniel, there's plenty of time. I was just getting to know Tristan's friend Rory." She looked at her father-in-law and then the young girl standing with her. "Daniel, this is Lorelei Gilmore, she goes by Rory however. Rory, this is my husband Daniel DuGrey."

Trying to calm her nerves Rory confidently held out her hand and smiled. "It's nice to formally meet you Mr. DuGrey."

Daniel DuGrey stood tall and serious as he looked Rory up and down, seemingly looking for something before taking her outstretched hand. "It's nice to meet you Rory. Your grandparents say only the best things about you."

"I'm sorry you've had to listen to them go on," she apologized while blushing.

"It's about time Tristan brought someone acceptable home," he said a moment later, causing the easy mood surrounding the group to disappear slightly.

"He's never _brought_ anyone home before Daniel."

"I would beg to differ," he scoffed.

"Daniel!" Eva turned red at her husband's insinuation. "I think it's time for dinner now. How about we all move into the dining room?" She asked the last question loudly, trying to get everyone's attention

When his mother announced dinner Tristan looked away from his siblings searching for Rory. His mother had insisted on getting a moment alone with Rory and Tristan was helpless to do anything but smile, shrug and look for his siblings. He had gotten so involved in catching up with them, however, that he had forgotten to look for Rory's entrance and save her from his family.

"So that's the girl?" Greg asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Huh?"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, that's what an Oxford education gets you," Emma said with a wide grin.

"Shove it!" Tristan replied as he quite literally shoved his sister. "And yes, that's her, I'm going to save her." He saw that she was surrounded by not only his grandfather and his mother, but his father. He could only hope his father hadn't said anything too offensive.

"Wow, he's willing to risk dad's wrath for her? There's something impressive," Greg said to his sister as they watched Tristan walk away. Emma only nodded.

"Have they scared you off yet?" Tristan said with a grin as he approached the group, placing a hand on the small of Rory's back.

She turned to him with a smile that he couldn't say looked fake, or strained. "I was just talking with your family Tris."

Tristan nodded. "Dad."

"Tristan." Daniel nodded his head and out of the corner of his eye saw his wife's glare and offered his hand for his son to shake. Tristan shook his hand somewhat reluctantly. "We should get into the dining room Eva."

"Right. Don't dawdle, dinner will be served soon," Eva told the children as she followed her husband and father-in-law into the dining room.

"You sure he didn't freak you out?"

"Oh, he freaked me out, but it's nothing I couldn't handle. I've been surrounded then worse than him."

"Really?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Two words; Mitchum Huntzberger."

Tristan nodded. "Right. Forgot about that."

"It's not something you can easily forget about. Trust me. I've tried." She smiled up at him trying to let him know that she wasn't upset by the conversation.

"So? Are you going to introduce us or wait for dad to really get angry?" Emma asked as she and Greg got closer.

Tristan rolled his eyes but smiled at Rory. "Mary, this is Greg and Emma, my brother and sister. Guys, this is Mary."

"_Rory_," she corrected him with a glare and then smiled at his siblings. "It's nice to meet you both, though Tristan never mentioned he even had siblings."

"Yes, we are the great disappointment," Emma answered sadly.

Greg only laughed. "Well, when you're not the heir and your older brother is not only a ladies man but a grade a screw up, well, you get hidden in the shadows."

"Oh come on, he wasn't a grade a screw up, I've met worse then him." Rory winked at him.

"Really?" Emma seemed interested in that.

"Come on, we have to get in there before Dad freaks out," Tristan moved them all towards the dining room.

"Come on, it's not like he'll yell at any of _us_," Greg said with a grin.

"Exactly." He pushed them all into the dining room.

"Nice of you to join us," Daniel commented as his children came into the dining room. Greg and Emma sat near their mother while Tristan and Rory sat near Janlan and Maggie.

"Sorry, I ask so many questions that I'm usually always late for things," Rory apologized to Daniel, taking the blame from the others.

Daniel made no comment and Eva called for the salad's to be served. "Are you enjoying yourself?" Maggie asked Rory between the salad course and dinner.

Rory nodded. "It's a different experience. Usually I go to three or four Thanksgiving dinners and never as formal as this one is."

"Three of four?" Janlan asked, overhearing Rory's answer. He was sitting on the other side of his wife while Tristan was sitting on Rory's other side stuck in a conversation with one of his father's business associates.

"Yes, well, my mother and I are known to have bottomless pits for stomachs." She tried to laugh and smile along with the comment and was unsure if she was actually successful.

"And none were this formal?" Maggie couldn't believed out of four dinners they would not be at one with Emily and Richard's.

"Oh, well I guess you could say my grandparent's dinner is this formal, but they never had business associates at the meal. At least, they were friends and business associates and rarely did my grandfather actually conduct business. He didn't believe in conducting business on a holiday he was spending with his family unless there was an emergency. Most of his associates really appreciated that approach."

"It is nice to have holidays just with your family," Janlan answered.

Rory felt Tristan squeeze her hand and smiled, excusing herself from his grandparents and joining the conversation he had been dragged into. It was an approach that actually worked very well and soon enough the businessman was bored with them and moved on. "Thank you for that," Tristan whispered.

"Anytime." Rory squeezed his hand and turned to the table that was rapidly filling with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that was making her mouth water. As she sat there looking at the meal and then actually eating it, and yes it did taste as good as it looked, Rory felt her phone vibrate. "Excuse me for a moment," she said to the people sitting around her, picking up her purse and heading for the foyer. "Hello?" The phone number was blocked and she took the chance that maybe it was her mother.

"Hey kiddo."

"Daddy! Happy Thanksgiving." The smile on Rory's face grew as she heard her father's voice.

"Happy Thanksgiving. How are you? Where are you?" Chris had gotten her message a few days ago wanting to talk about this weekend but had been extremely busy forcing them into a game of phone tag.

"I'm in Hartford!" Her voice was a lot more excited than anyone would have thought.

"And yet you sound so happy about that!" Chris was shocked to learn that's where his daughter was spending Thanksgiving. It was extremely close to her mother. "I thought your grandparents were in Europe this year?"

"They are," Rory confirmed. "Tristan's family invited me to spend the holiday with them."

"That was very nice of them."

"Um, yeah, it was." She wasn't going to tell her father about the awkwardness while in their house. "Where are you?"

"My parents house."

"Having a good time?" She asked with a laugh.

"I think I'd be having a better time with you and your boyfriend's family."

"Dad!" They had spoken, several times, about both the sexual tension and the fact that nothing was going on between her and Tristan.

"What? I didn't say anything."

"Please."

"You sound happy kid."

"I am, actually. It's relaxing…despite the fact that I'm so close to…well…everyone."

"You'll be fine."

"Rory?" Tristan appeared in the foyer hallway, Rory now sitting at the bottom of the staircase, happy to see the wide smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, I'm being rude," she said to Tristan before turning her attention back to her father. "I have to get back to dinner Daddy, I'll call you later tonight; if you'll be up that is."

"For you, of course. Have a good night Ror, tell Tristan I say hello. Love you."

"Love you too." She hung up the phone and smiled at him. "My dad says hi." Though she had no idea what possessed her to do it, as she moved towards him, ready to head back into the dining room, Rory stopped directly in front of him, stood on her tiptoes and quickly, but soundly, placed her lips on top of his, allowing the kiss to last just a little bit longer than that of a friend, before walking past him back to everyone else.

Tristan watched as she approached, a smug smile settling on her lips and taken completely off guard when she kissed him, on the mouth, and let it linger longer than that of an appropriate kiss from a friend. Rory said nothing to him, just smiled and headed back into the dining room, leaving him to follow her and try and get the shocked look off his face as they walked back into the dining room.

**GGG**

"What did you do to my brother?" Emma asked Rory sometime later as the group had retired to the parlor for brandy and coffee.

"What do you mean?" Rory looked at Tristan's younger sister and smiled. She had been staring at nothing for most of the night. Maggie had tried to get her involved in conversation but for the first time Rory found herself not wanting to say anything.

"He went to find you earlier and came back with a dazed look on his face. Not to mention you haven't said more than five words since you returned." She raised her eyebrows at Rory and laughed when the other girl didn't answer. "I know that there's something going on between the two of you, something more than just friends."

Rory turned her head to really look at Emma when she said that. "Are you and Greg twins?" She had wanted to ask that question all night but not gotten a chance.

Emma laughed. "Very slick. I'll indulge you for now but he is my big brother and I do find out everything," she warned with a grin that could match Tristan's. "No we're not twins, but we're only 16 months apart, so we're extremely close. And I'm five years younger than Tristan."

"So are you both at Chilton now?"

"Yup. According to Headmaster Charleston we're more trouble than Tristan ever was but at least we have a good academic record."

"Tristan was never stupid," Rory defended him immediately.

"I know that. He is at Oxford after all, isn't he? Besides, he's my brother, who do you think I go to for help on my homework? Even across an ocean with several time zones between us he's always able to help me out. Greg too, if he should ever ask for it."

Rory liked learning these little things about Tristan, but it upset her to realize, once again, that as much as he knew about her, she knew so little about him. It made her feel extremely self-absorbed and self-centered. She knew Tristan would yell at her if she ever told him she felt this way but Rory had no control over it. She didn't even know he had siblings! He knew about everything and everyone in her life and she knew nothing about him. Granted he knew a lot more about her life in Stars Hollow than she knew about his life in Hartford because that's the way he wanted it to be, but that didn't make what was going on now any different. "That's awfully nice of him." She wondered how Tristan was answering late night phone calls from his siblings if he was spending the night sleeping with her, of course there was the possibility that he got up in the middle of the night and she never knew it but Rory didn't really think that was the case.

"He's a good big brother," Emma said with a smile and a nod. "He's so much better than either of our parents. Mom tries, I'll give her that, but she really lets dad push her around. At least Tristan is more like our grandparents; he's a good influence; minus that whole military school thing." They both laughed at Emma's nonchalant mention of Tristan's rebellious streak. "Greg and I wouldn't be who we are without him."

Rory felt her heart swell. "You should really tell him that sometime, I know it would mean a lot to him." Even though they hadn't spoken about his life in great detail, Rory remembered the boy she knew at Chilton and the man she was practically living with at Oxford. She remembered the things Logan would tell her and knew that they applied to Tristan as well. She had learned a lot from Logan during the time that they were together and found things about high society that she liked and some that she didn't; things that she could ignore and couldn't ignore. But Tristan, she could see, was worried that he was like his parents, particularly his father. He didn't want to be stoic and cold. Of course he wanted to be a good businessman and do his family proud, but his father's attitude outside of the office was something he wanted to ignore. He wanted to find a balance between society and reality, somewhat like she had but she knew he used his grandparents as benchmark.

"What are you ladies talking about?" Greg asked, happy to have gotten away from his father and his stuffy associates.

"Girl stuff," Emma answered quickly.

"Okay, so you were talking about Tristan, what about him? Have you admitted your feelings?" Greg asked looking straight at Rory.

She couldn't believe how his entire family could not only read her feelings, but had no issue calling her on them. In a way she didn't really like it. It was something for her and Tristan to figure out, on their own timetable and she felt as though everyone was pushing her to move faster. Rory had just gotten the nerve to kiss him, and much of that was due to her conversation with Maggie, but if they pushed to hard she wouldn't be able to go further. She'd freeze up, buckle under pressure and pull away from Tristan even though she didn't want to. She scanned the room quickly, her eyes finally settling on Tristan's and she knew he could read her face; as she could his. "If you two will excuse me, it seems your big brother needs someone to save him." She pushed herself away from her spot on the couch and moved quickly towards him. "Excuse me gentlemen, would you mind me stealing Tristan for a moment?" She gave the men her best Bambi eyes and smile, satisfied when she saw they were all going to give in. Rory felt a slight glare from Tristan's father but ignored it when she felt Tristan take her hand.

"If you'll excuse me gentlemen, I'm not one to turn down a request from a pretty lady." Everyone exchanged pleasantries and Tristan quickly led Rory away from the room all together. He was practically dragging her along because he knew if any of his family noticed they would stop them and most likely scold him for trying to leave; but he really wanted a chance to talk to his best friend alone, even if it was for five minutes.

"Hey, come on, slow down now, I'm in heels here!" Rory requested as she tripped along after Tristan.

"Sorry Mary, can't slow down or else they'll find us," he said seriously, heading outside while shedding his jacket and resting it on her shoulders after he closed the terrace doors.

"Outside? Really?" Rory felt Tristan drop his jacket on her shoulders and had to smile—she didn't even say she was cold and he was taking care of her. As she stared into the dark gardens in front of her she could tell how beautiful it was. "It must be beautiful here in the springtime."

Tristan smiled, knowing that she would enjoy seeing the garden even if it was cold out. "We can come back in the spring time if you'd like, mom always tries to do some of the work herself, she enjoys it. Of course, that's done when my father isn't around. He doesn't like her doing manual work like that." Rory rolled her eyes. "I agree with you there, but it's a beautiful sight anyway. Mom always likes to hold some big party out here come spring time, she puts up a lot of lights and gets a dance floor out on the grounds and it's actually quite amazing. It's the only event I ever come home for."

Rory nodded, taking interest in the way he spoke of his mother. It was obvious that he actually liked her. "She's a lovely woman."

"I'm glad you think so. I wish she had a bit more of a backbone sometimes but she's a good woman." The stood in silence for a few minutes, just looking out into the dark garden, lost in their own thoughts. "My father wasn't too awful to you, was he?" Unfortunately his father had been able to talk to Rory without him there, although Tristan didn't think his presence would have made his father act any different.

"Don't worry about it Tris. He thought he could shock me by telling me that you used to bring home a different girl almost every day when you were in high school, but I gotta tell you, I already knew that. I don't know why your father thought telling me something like that would change my opinion of you." She shook her head thinking how strange that sounded.

"I'm glad it doesn't," he replied.

Rory nodded. They were silent, each probably lost in thoughts of the kiss from earlier that evening but neither knowing how to approach the situation. She decided to be a big girl, suck it up and say something—after all, she figured Tristan wouldn't know how to approach her since she was so emotional lately. "It wasn't a mistake and I don't regret it," she told him clearly.

Tristan stilled at her words, having not expected her to say anything to him. He had waited, biting his tongue wanting to see if she'd make a move but certainly had not been counting on it. Tristan thought about playing naïve and asking her what she was talking about but somehow he knew that wouldn't be the best idea. He could only imagine how difficult it was for her to speak to him about it first to begin with. "I'm really happy to hear that Rory, really happy." He used her first name in hopes to stress how serious he really was.

Rory let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and turned to him, her cheeks slightly red with embarrassment but a smile on her face. "I'm happy to hear that." She sighed. "I don't want to screw anything up between us."

"What makes you think that you will?" He asked, having not expected to hear her say something like that.

"I don't know. I've become really good at screwing things up in my life recently, really good at it. I don't think I could handle screwing things up with you." She was being as honest as she could.

"You won't screw up anything with me Rory, I'm not going anywhere. I know you're having issues but I haven't turned away from you, I'm here for as long as you want me to be. " He knew she would have doubts, he knew she would be nervous.

"You've been great Tris, really," she turned to smile at him before looking back into the darkness, "I'm just scared."

"You have no reason to be." He draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head before speaking again. "I never imagined I would run into you again Rory, let alone have you as my best friend. And I didn't dare to dream that we would ever date. You were so certain that you hated me all those years ago, I was so arrogant back then I can't blame you."

"I never hated you Tris, I was just unable to deal with the feelings you provoked in me. I had Dean, he was safe, he was home, I was comfortable with him. I had no idea what to do about you so I ignored you, pretended I couldn't stand you, and it worked to some degree."

Tristan nodded, they had had this conversation before. "Well I'm glad you gave me another chance."

"People change. We're both living proof of that." Rory couldn't stop the laughter as she finished speaking.

"What's so funny?" He asked looking down at her.

"We've changed alright; you've grown up and I've fallen apart." She shook her head.

"We're perfect for each other then," he said, squeezing her shoulders to reinforce his words.

She nodded her head. "I know," she said softly.

Tristan couldn't hold back the grin that was on his face. "What are we deciding here tonight Rory?"

Rory couldn't help but notice he hadn't called her Mary once since they stepped out of the house, proving how serious he really was about this conversation. "Whatever we want it to mean Tristan. I don't know what you're ready for, I don't know what I'm ready for." She sighed, knowing what she wanted but unable to really articulate everything. She was sure that last sentence made him doubt her.

"I'm ready for whatever you are Rory, I really am. I don't want to rush you into anything, I know life is a little out of control at the moment, but I'll be here for you regardless of tonight's conversation. But if you're asking me what I want, I'll tell you that I want everything. I want to be your best friend _and_ your boyfriend. I've waited so long for this opportunity and I really didn't think it would happen but I want it to, I really do."

"I want it to happen too," she reassured him. "I just don't know if it's fair to you. Look at how much you do for me Tristan, how well you take care of me, how much you know about me, but can I really say the same? Is it a balanced out friendship we have right now?" She looked up at him, wanting him to understand how important this issue was to her.

He looked into her eyes, saw her concern, saw how upset she was, and a soft smile crossed his face. Tristan leaned forward and kissed her forehead before placing his hands on her biceps and looking directly into her eyes. "Rory, relationships, whether between friends or significant others, are about give and take. They're not 100 balanced all of the time, they're not perfect every second of every day, but that's okay. Sometimes you'll need me and other times I'll need you. There will come a time for you to feel like you're reciprocating for everything you feel I've done for you. Honestly, all I've done is been your friend the best way I could." She smiled at him and he felt like he could do anything.

"I'm not really sure what I've done in the past six months that's made me deserve someone like you," she began, "but I don't have the energy, nor do I really want to, argue with you." She smiled at the slightly shocked, confused, relieved and finally happy face that was in front of her. Before she could say anything else he leaned forward and kissed her. It wasn't an overly passionate kiss, but his lips pressed against hers promising her everything his words had said and more.

"So…" He said as he pulled back from her, smiling at her closed eyes and happy face.

"Hm?" She had no interest in opening her eyes and finding that this moment, this evening, wasn't real.

"You're my girlfriend now?"

Rory opened her eyes and smiled up at Tristan, loving how unsure and hopeful he sounded. "I'm you're girlfriend," she confirmed with a nod. "Have you ever had a girlfriend before? I mean, a real girlfriend, not someone like Summer."

"I did, for a year and a half in North Carolina, but let's save that for another night, okay?" Rory nodded. "We should get inside, my parents are probably wondering where we are, my grandparents are hopefully ready to leave soon and being the good boyfriend that I am you look cold and I don't want you to get sick." Rory's only answer was to kiss him lightly and allow him to lead her back into the house.

**GGGGGGGGGGG**

**AN:** So I totally didn't see this chapter going this way, I was totally planning on dragging out them officially getting together longer, but I started writing and well, this is what came out. I hope you all enjoyed it!


	18. Breaking The Ice

**Author's Note: **There's major writer's block going on within my head so you may not hear from me for a little while, but I'm for sure trying. Happy New Year. Enjoy.

**Chapter 18: Breaking the Ice**

There were two thoughts running through Tristan's mind when he woke up the next morning; 1: last night Rory "Mary" Gilmore agreed to be my girlfriend and 2: was last night even real? He laid in bed going over everything that happened last night, deciding that it was real. Because it _had_ to be real…right? After a half hour of contemplation Tristan was sick of second guessing himself and dragged himself out of bed. When he finally got into the kitchen it was to find a note saying his grandparents were out meeting friends for brunch and would see them later. This was one of the many reasons Tristan loved his grandparents. They felt no need to force him to spend his entire weekend with them, nor did they ask him to attend brunch with their friends. Had he been staying with his parents, whatever was on his father's agenda would have become Tristan's agenda as well, whether or not Rory was with him. Daniel DuGrey didn't care about little things like that. He would give Tristan evenings to spend with Rory and that was enough in his mind. Thinking about Rory, Tristan headed back upstairs wondering if she was awake yet. As quietly as possible he crept back into his bedroom, happy to find his absence did not wake her. She had stretched out slightly now that he was no longer there but at the same time she was hugging his pillow to her body.

Tristan had been surprised his grandparents didn't seem to object to them sleeping in the same room. He thought it was very trusting of them, although he certainly gave them background on why the two ended up in the same bed. No matter what, he didn't want his grandparents to think that a) he would have sex with his only recently official girlfriend in their house with them down the hall and b) he was going to treat Rory like the other girls he had been with. Because Rory was certainly not like any other girl he had ever known, ever introduced to his family, and he wanted them to know this. Of course Tristan realized his grandparents had probably figured all of this out themselves, but he wanted to reassure them. As he got dressed, opting to go out to get them breakfast, Tristan couldn't help smiling at Rory's peaceful, sleeping form. Grabbing his wallet off of the dresser, he stopped by Rory's side and kissed her forehead gently.

"Tris?" She mumbled more into the pillow then at him.

_Damn! I didn't mean to wake her_. "Sh, go back to sleep Mare, I'm just going to get us something to eat."

"Time?"

"Not even eleven o'clock. My grandparents are at brunch with friends. Go back to sleep baby, I'll get you when I come back, okay?"

Rory nodded. "Thanks." She closed her eyes again and when Tristan was sure she was sleeping he headed downstairs to grab the keys for the car his grandparents let him use when he stayed with them.

As he sat in the car, still parked in the driveway, Tristan thought about where to go to get breakfast. Of course he knew places in Hartford that were close and had excellent food, but for some reason he had an urge to go somewhere else. The problem was he didn't know the kind of reception he would receive, if anyone recognized him that is, or if he could handle answering questions that he didn't want to answer. Deciding to risk it, knowing that the end result would make Rory happy, Tristan finally backed out of the driveway and headed east.

Twenty-five minutes later Tristan turned at the slightly familiar rooster, recalling the last time he had done so, over four years ago when he and Rory were Romeo and Juliet. He came to a complete stop before entering the town square, knowing once he did there would be no turning back, and thought about what he was doing. Shaking his head, Tristan decided to stop doubting himself and just get it over with. Sometimes the things people dread turn out to be better than you imagine, for imagination ends up working you up unnecessarily. Quickly finding and space and getting out, Tristan headed for the hardware store that he knew was really a diner, Rory's favorite place to eat in the world, and took a deep breath before entering. As the door shut behind him the bell jingled, signaling his entrance and he was surprised that no one looked up. He knew that the small town of Star's Hollow was nosy and from what Rory had always said his flashy car would certainly draw some attention, as well as his clothing, but it seemed this time that wasn't true.

"Take a seat anywhere," a gruff voice said from behind the counter. He was moving around, slightly hurried, and Tristan figured this man to be the diner owner, Luke.

"I just need some take out actually, please," Tristan told the man while taking a seat at the counter.

"Right, sure, here's a menu, I'll be back in a minute to take your order. Lane!" The man's attention had shifted from Tristan to a petite Korean that he recognized as Rory's best friend Lane.

"Sorry I'm late Luke."

"Table three needs more coffee and table five needs to place an order."

"Right, I'm on it."

Tristan was still looking over the menu, trying to think about what Rory would enjoy the most and actually pondering ordering one of everything since he couldn't decide. "It's not a NASA instruction manual or anything kid, just food, what do you want?" Luke asked, pencil poised over his order pad.

"I'll let you know, when I know. I'll take a cup of coffee while I wait though." He hadn't had any coffee this morning and over the past months Rory had gotten him slightly addicted. Besides, he remembered her saying that Luke made the best coffee and needed to find out how true that was.

"Here you go." Luke poured the coffee and pushed it towards Tristan.

Absentmindedly, still looking over the menu seriously, Tristan took a sip of the coffee. It was only a second or two after swallowing that he understood why Rory coveted Luke's coffee so much. "Wow, she really was right; this is the best coffee in the world."

"Excuse me?" Luke had heard the blonde's muttering about his coffee and instantly knew the she he was speaking of had to be a Gilmore girl. Those women drank more coffee then was obviously healthy but they were always raving about how it was the best coffee in the world so they had to drink it while they could because they needed to prepare their body for when they couldn't get a hold of a cup of his coffee. Of course Luke thought they should switch to something else to drink but he was outnumbered and stopped arguing with them. Knowing this kid was talking about a Gilmore, Luke narrowed him down to one of Rory's friends from school, probably Yale since he did look like a rich, preppy guy, much like the guy she had been with the last time Luke had seen her, but Luke recognized him as someone different.

"What?" Tristan looked up at Luke, not realizing the older man had heard his mutterings about the coffee.

When Luke would have answered, the front door to the diner burst open. "Luke! I'm here! Coffee! Please!" She slid onto a stool two to Tristan's right, barely looking at him but focusing on her fiancé.

"I left you with a whole pot of coffee this morning!"

Lorelei shrugged. "Well it's gone and I need more! It wasn't enough!" She paused for a minute, "and add a stack of pancakes to that please, chocolate chip."

"Oh, she'd definitely like that," Tristan muttered, remembering Rory's love for chocolate chip pancakes, and dislike that the British didn't enjoy them as much.

Once again Luke heard Tristan's comment and stared strangely at the boy. "Aren't you full from dinner last night?"

"Full? Please!" Lorelei scoffed. "We only went to one dinner."

"And one is more than enough."

"It would have been two if my parents were in the country." Lorelei said that part sadly and not because she wanted to see her parents but because she figured their trip consisted of a stop in England to see Rory. And although Lorelei was mad at Rory for a lot of things she still missed her daughter terribly. "Who are you?" Lorelei asked suddenly, turning her attention to Tristan. She didn't recognize him at first, but now that she was drinking a cup of Luke's coffee and had breakfast on the way she had time to look around the diner. She wanted to stop thinking about Rory and figured concentrating on the blonde next to her would be better.

"Oh, just passing through." Tristan didn't want to give her his name, she would put the pieces together.

"That's nice. Who are you though? You do have a name, right?"

"Yes, I have a name," Tristan agreed, taking a look at the menu and sighing before looking at Luke.

"Finally ready to order?"

He nodded. "Chocolate chip pancakes, waffles, a western omelet and blueberry pancakes. Oh and two orders of French toast."

"All for you?"

Tristan laughed. "God no. I'm bringing it back to my girlfriend as well. Oh, I also need six coffees and a pound of coffee beans to go."

At the last part of the request Luke looked up at him strangely. "I don't sell coffee beans."

"He's right about that, I've been begging him to for years but Luke refuses! My own fiancé refusing me coffee!"

Luke only rolled his eyes at her. "Ignore her."

"I need those coffee beans though, I really do. Just this once make an exception, I won't tell anyone and I'll compensate you for them."

"It's not about the money kid." Luke stood in silence for a minute, knowing he would give in only because he realized this kid was going back to Rory and he wanted Rory to have the coffee. "Just this once," he gave in before placing the food order with Ceasar and going into the back for the coffee."

"Not fair!" Lorelei pouted as Luke walked into the back. Once he was gone she narrowed in on Tristan. "Okay, no more games, who are you? You're rich, Hartford rich, probably go to Yale, right? Or some kind of other fancy school somewhere. If you're looking for Rory she's not here, she's in England." Lorelei sounded bitter and she knew it, but she didn't care.

"Thanks for judging me and jumping to conclusions, I appreciate it," Tristan said in a biting tone. "And just so you know, I'm not looking for Rory. People can have money and come to small towns for reasons unrelated to you and your daughter, you know."

Lorelei looked at this kid completely floored. People rarely spoke to her like that. Especially not strangers. Although….there was something about this guy that was familiar. She couldn't put her finger on it though.

Luke returned a minute later placing the coffee beans in front of Tristan and then stacking up the take out boxes. He gave Tristan the total and as he was pulling out his wallet his phone rang. Handing Luke the money, he answered his loudly ringing phone, "DuGrey here." He listened for a minute before answering. "Hey Em, how are you? Really? Oh, we don't have plans tonight. Well, I take that back, we may go to Boston. Who do you know in Boston? Oh. Well did you ask mom?" He looked up and noticed that Luke was glaring at him and then pointing at a sign. "Em, I gotta go. I'm out getting breakfast. _No, _I didn't want to cook for my girlfriend, who I left sleeping alone in the house, so I'm gonna get going, it's another half hour 'til I get back. Oh please! Goodbye Emma!" He hung up the phone and looked at Luke apologetically. "Sorry about that, younger sister's can be so aggravating sometimes."

"I can attest to that," Luke said, handing him his change.

"I'm going to take this out and then come back for the coffee, okay?"

"Why don't I help you?" He said suddenly, grabbing one stack of boxes and following Tristan to his car. "I know who you are, you know," Luke started once they were far enough from the car.

"Excuse me?" Tristan decided playing dumb may work for a while.

"If you go to Yale and are at Oxford with Rory then you have to be smart so don't play that game with me. You're bringing this stuff to her, wherever she is, probably in Hartford, huh?" Tristan said nothing. "You're not going to say, I understand. You don't want Lorelei to know."

"It's not my place to get involved. My place is to be there for Rory, she needs _somebody_," Tristan stressed.

Luke nodded. "And my job is to be there for Lorelei, but you have to understand, Rory's always been like a daughter to me and I hate that the two of them are fighting. It's not right. Lorelei's not the same without Rory, they're best friends."

"Rory's not the same either, but they have a lot to work out together and I'm not getting in the middle." Tristan wanted to be firm on that.

"I respect that." He handed Tristan the boxes. "Tell her I miss her though, okay? And I'm sorry about the way she found out about the engagement."

"It hurt her…a lot." He felt that Luke had a right to know.

"It hurt Lorelei to find out that her daughter was on the other side of the Atlantic from her mother," Luke countered.

Tristan nodded. "How about that coffee?" The men had come to a silent agreement, having not noticed that Lorelei had been watching them from the diner window. They went back into the diner where Tristan collected the steaming cups of coffee, bid Luke a farewell and headed back to his car, drinking one cup of coffee on the way to the car; Rory really was turning him into an addict.

"She got you addicted, didn't she?" A female voice called from behind him.

He turned abruptly, surprised that none of the coffee spilled and smiled at the face in the front of him. "Yeah, she did. I don't know how she did it but she did. She even managed to get me to drink a steaming cup in less than a minute when necessary."

"You really are skilled. If my mother hadn't been so strict when I was growing up I probably would have become addicted as well. As it is I spent so much time with Rory and Lorelei I don't know how I did it without having constant caffeine in my system."

"It was probably because of all the sugar you had in your system."

Lane laughed. "That's true." She paused, hesitating a bit to say or ask anything else. "How is she? I mean really, how is she? We talk every now and then you know, although it's mainly email these days, but you spend every day with her, you talk to her, how is she?"

Tristan knew that Rory spoke to Lane constantly and he knew that it helped her more than Lane could realize. "She lives for your conversations, you know. She misses you, a lot. It's a comfort to know that _something_ back home hasn't changed."

Based on the emails she had been getting from Rory Lane knew that Tristan's words were extremely true. "I miss her. I hate that this happened to her. I hate it all. I hate that she let some stupid man's words affect her like that, I hate that she dropped out of Yale, I hate that she got into such a huge fight with Lorelei, I hate that she moved in with her grandparents, I hate that they let her move to England, I hate that she's not around anymore, I hate that Lorelei's engaged and going to plan a wedding and she's not around."

"She hates it to. I think the only thing she doesn't hate is having come to Oxford. She doesn't like the circumstances but she likes being there."

"I know," Lane smiled at him. "It's because of you. You're her savior, you know. She'd still be lost and confused without you."

"I didn't do anything," Tristan protested.

"You're doing more than you realize. Just be careful when you back away, which I know will happen because you can't be that close forever, she's becoming dependent on you. And if there's one thing that Rory Gilmore hates to be it's dependent. Lorelei taught her to be an independent woman; breaking that mold freaks her out."

"I've realized that these past months. I don't want to hurt her Lane, I want to do nothing but help; and I'm not going anywhere…unless she wants me to that is." He didn't know if he should tell her, but Tristan decided it would make her feel better about him. "We're officially dating now, you know. It just happened last night, but it's official. I know you know of my reputation from when we were at Chilton, but I've changed."

"I know you have," Lane said with a nod. "I can tell from the things Rory has told me."

"Okay. Good."

"So she's okay?"

"She's getting better every day. Hey, would you like to visit some time?"

"England? Yeah! But I can't afford to do something like that."

"I can though."

"I can't let you do that," she argued.

"It'll make Rory happy and that's what I want to do."

Lane watched him carefully for a minute, as if expecting him to yell April fools or something ridiculous like that. "Thank you!" On a whim she leaned forward and hugged him. "Rory has my contact information, but I need to get inside now, keep her safe Tristan."

"I will." He saluted Lane as she walked away and placed the coffee on the roof of his car taking out his eyes.

"I've figured out who you are, you know."

The voice that he least expected to hear and most expected to hear voiced itself from the hood of his car. He looked up to see her sitting on the hood and he just stared at her—his opinion of her was not very high. "Oh really, and who am I?"

"Tristan DuGrey, from Hartford, a thorn in my daughter's side during the year and a half at Chilton you were together."

"Very good. Give the girl a cookie," he said sarcastically."

"Don't talk to me like that," Lorelei said immediately.

"I don't have time for this, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back home. I have things to do today."

"Things to do with my daughter?" Tristan didn't answer. "I know she's with you, she came back here without trying to contact me, not that I would expect her to. After all, she moved across the ocean and didn't have the nerve to tell me."

"Do you blame her?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Do you blame her? How could you blame her? You made it perfectly clear that you disagreed with all of her recent decisions and had no interest in speaking with her because of it. Why would she tell you she was moving? So you could disapprove of her yet again?"

"Where do you get off talking to me like this? How do you know anything about this situation?"

"I know because I know Rory and I care about her and I've been with her the past four months. I've spent every day for the last three months in your daughter's company and I know her pretty damn well. I see what she goes through every single day. I recognize the internal battle she has every time she makes a decision, I watch her happiness fade and the tears enter her eyes every time she talks about something the two of you normally do together or someone compares her to you."

"She made the decision to leave me," Lorelei said in a weak defense.

"I'm not saying you didn't have a right to be angry Lorelei. And I'm certainly not saying that I agree with all of her decisions. What do I think of Logan? Well he's not the world's most awful guy, he was just trying to help her come out of her shell, unfortunately that backfired. He has no control over what his father does, that much is perfectly clear. You have every right to be angry and want things to be different, it's how you handled things that upset me."

"Where do you get off judging my parenting skills?"

"Because everything my father has done to me for years I see you doing to her. You're putting all your expectations on her, not thinking about how _she's_ feeling, not thinking about what led her to do what she did. Hanging out with Logan didn't make Rory steal that boat, you can't blame him for that. She wanted to do it and if you would just listen to her she would have told you that. Getting mad at Logan doesn't solve anything; hell, getting mad at her doesn't solve anything."

"Oh really?"

"I have to go before she realizes how long I've been gone and starts to worry but I'm going to leave you with this one little story Lorelei." Tristan looked her in the eyes as he spoke. "It took a few weeks but when Rory finally told me what had happened over the past couple years, specifically the past couple of months you know what upset her the most?" He paused for a moment. "She remembered times when she asked you a simple question: 'if I fell into a million pieces would you put me back together again? And do you remember what your answer was?" Tristan could tell by her face that Lorelei remembered. "You told her that you wouldn't sleep until she was back together again. Well guess what Lorelei, your daughter _was_ in a million pieces. She fell apart in front of your face and what did you do? You turned your back on her. Sure she left you, but she left to go somewhere where people weren't judging. Of course they had an agenda but they weren't yelling, they were moving past it and trying to get her into some kind of routine, whereas you just dropped her. You don't know what empathy feels like until you watch someone you love fall apart like she did when she told me this story. Now, if you'll excuse me." Tristan knew he got his point across as he watched Lorelei slow get off the hood of his car and walk back into Luke's.

It wasn't until he was back on the highway that Tristan's hands started shaking. He couldn't believe that he spoke to Lorelei Gilmore like that. Lorelei commanded a lot of respect and while speaking up in such a manner eventually won her respect, there was a period of time where Lorelei hated you for daring to speak to her in such a manner. Tristan knew this and he still spoke to her in this way. _At least I'm not causing a rift between mother and daughter—that was already done_. Tristan actually thought running into Lorelei would work in Rory's favor and maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to talk Lorelei into being the adult in the family and talking to her daughter first but after their conversation her wasn't so sure.

Eventually he pulled back into the driveway and started the daunting task of bringing all of the food inside. He brought the coffee in first, taking time to turn the oven on warm so he could reheat the food while waking Rory up. Although walking back into his grandparent's kitchen with all of the take-out boxes and seeing a sleepy eyed Rory Gilmore shouldn't have shocked him, there was freshly brewed coffee in the house after all, it did. "Good morning, sleeping beauty."

Rory mumbled some kind of response with the only part Tristan could comprehend was "coffee please". He took one of the coffee cups out of the holder and handed it over, knowing that Rory was not a force to be reckoned with until she had at least a cup and a half of coffee in her body. As was the case most mornings, Tristan watched as Rory began come alive again, not at all surprised to see her eyes go wide at the taste recognition. "Tris…" She started while staring at him.

"Yeah Mary?"

"Where did you go for this coffee?" She was staring at him even more intently as if she thought he would try and weasel his way out of the conversation—which was not happening.

"A diner not too far away," he answered nonchalantly.

"Really?" She continued her staring and Tristan could see she was making some kind of mental list to see how she should react to him.

"Nice place, interesting people." He turned back to the over and started removing boxes that he now knew were warm, putting the food on plates and then placing the plates on the island. Rory was watching him move around the kitchen, her mouth now opened in shock, and he was waiting for her to speak.

"I can't believe you went there."

"How do you know where I went?" He wanted her to say the words. She was going to have to deal with her mother and her hometown eventually—they weren't just going to go away.

"Enough Tristan!" She exclaimed, getting frustrated with the little game they were apparently playing. He went into Stars Hollow and got her coffee and food from Luke's which meant that he obviously saw Luke, meaning that her mother was most likely there and a possibility of Lane being there as well; and though he met Lane many years ago she never forgot a face, or a story—and Rory had told her many stories about Tristan.

"What are you so upset about? I thought you would appreciate it. You always said Luke's was your favorite place to eat—and he makes the best coffee in the world," Tristan said calmly while placing cutlery and napkins in front of her.

"He does." It was all she could think of saying. "Thank you." She was shocked and unable to discuss anything further about his trip into Stars Hollow; she wasn't ready yet.

"You're welcome." He smiled at her, happy that she didn't seem to upset with him. "How's the coffee, as good as you remember?"

Rory smiled and reached for another cup while nodding. "Don't think you're getting your hands on any of it, by the way."

"I wouldn't dream of getting in the way of you and coffee Mary, especially Luke's coffee that you've been deprived of for months. Besides, I had two cups on the way over here." He moved to start brewing his own pot, opting for whatever his grandparents had rather then the stash Luke had let him buy.

"Good boy." She said with a grin as she started putting a little bit of everything on her plate, excited to eat her favorites. "Chocolate chip! You remembered!"

"Of course I did." Tristan smiled, happy that he actually remembered that she liked chocolate chip pancakes. They started eating in a comfortable silence until Tristan spoke up. "Lane says hello and she misses you. She loves your emails as much as you love hers. I told her that I would fly her out to visit whenever she wanted, so pick a time for the two of you and just let me know, okay?"

Rory had been concentrating on the flavors that were mixing in her mouth, still unable to grasp Tristan risking going into Luke's for her when he spoke about meeting with Lane. His offer to fly her best friend to visit whenever was good for them floored her. While she knew he cared about her and wanted her to be happy, this was beyond anything he had to do. "Tris…"

He watched the emotions on her face, happy that he extended the offer to Lane. "Yes?"

"What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Tristan smirked, knowing that she was serious but not wanting to start the day on such an intense note. "You slept with your married ex-boyfriend, a few months later stole a yacht with your now ex-boyfriend, get arrested for stealing said boat, dropped out of Yale and became estranged from your mother. Nothing big." He knew that this was not the answer that she was expecting, the look on her face made that obvious, but as the look changed from serious to shocked that he would joke about her current situation to understanding his sarcastic, joking tone she smiled.

"Next time let's skip all that stuff and go straight for the I miss you phone call, what do you say?" Rory wanted to get over everything Tristan just said, turn a new leaf, and she wanted to be able to think about the past year and a half without deep sadness and disappointment in herself coursing through her.

"Anything you say Mare, anything you say."


	19. Us, As In You And Me

**Chapter 19: Us, As In You And Me**

"Are you sure you're up to this? You really don't have to come along, I could have taken the train in," Rory said for the umpteenth time in the past fifteen minutes.

"Rory! Stop! It's enough. I know you could have taken the train in. I know that I can drop you off and then go do whatever I want in the city. I realize all of this but I don't care. I want to spend the day with you and your dad, well as long as neither of you mind me tagging along." He didn't want to impose on their time together no matter how much time he wanted to spend with his newly declared girlfriend.

"Why would we mind?" Rory asked. "My father loves you Tristan, don't worry about him."

"But I wasn't your boyfriend when he left England a few weeks ago."

"Please Tristan; apparently everyone knew that we were going to start dating before we did—or maybe before I did at least. My father knew something was happening, I just had to realize that. I highly doubt telling him tonight will shock him.

They were halfway to Boston and had been having the same argument the entire drive. Christopher called after they had finished their breakfast and requested some quality time while she was State-side and neither of them had any objections. His grandparents bid them off, telling them now they could go out with their friends that evening guilt free. Maggie and Janlan would have hated to leave the kids home with nothing to do. Tristan knew it was bullshit because his grandparents had no problem leaving them home alone with nothing to do; he had a car to use if they decided they wanted to go out, and there was _plenty_ they could do in the house to keep themselves busy.

"So you're really okay with this?" He asked wanting to change the subject.

"Okay with what?" Rory knew Tristan was the master at changing the topic but sometimes he did it as though he was in the middle of a conversation that she missed the beginning of. This was one of those times.

He laughed. "Okay with this. Us, as in you and me."

She smiled, touched that he was nervous about her changing her mind. "I'm really okay with _this_, as you put our relationship. As long as you're okay with it. I don't want you feeling forced to change your ways because I came into the picture. I know I monopolize a lot of your time Tris and I know that's not fair to you or your social life." To say these were new fears would be inaccurate, but it was one of the few times Rory ever voiced them to Tristan or anyone else.

Quickly Tristan looked away from the road to gauge how serious Rory was about her worries. He found it a ridiculous fear but something told him, and her face confirmed that she was dead serious. Rory really thought she was holding him back from his social life. "Oh Mary, when will you understand?" She looked at him with surprise on her face. "I don't do anything that I don't want to. I wouldn't spend all this time with you if I didn't want to. I wouldn't ditch trips to the pub to sit with you and watch TV if I didn't want to. My social life is just fine, so don't worry about that, and if we're going to be honest, it's been better since you're here. Believe it or not Mary, the guys have been bugging me to go on a date, since apparently I haven't in _years_, but no one interests me. There hasn't been one person of the opposite sex that has attracted me and kept my attention for more than a minute before you. I told you I had a girlfriend for a while in North Carolina so I'm not new to this whole commitment thing, but you and her, you're two different people and I would choose you over her every single day if I had to."

She smiled at his sweet comment. "Will you tell me about her?"

Her question surprised him. "Who? Cassie? Why would you want to know about her?" He didn't speak about her often. She hadn't met his family because at that point he was very much estranged from them and visits from his grandparents were cherished; he didn't want her tagging along. Their breakup, while mutual, had been hard on him, hard on both of them. And while they parted as friends and spoke on the phone every now and then, breaking up was one of the hardest things they had to do. It was only natural that he didn't speak of it.

"You don't have to, I just…well, I wanted to know _something_ about you. It seems that I've done all the talking in this relationship so you know about my entire life. I didn't even know you had siblings!" It was a fact that really bothered her. She hated not knowing anything about Tristan's life. And while she was shocked at how he responded to her question, she was going to push the topic just a little bit more; she needed to know something about him, she needed him to confide in her the way she had been doing in him.

"I'm sorry." Tristan didn't know she had no idea about Greg and Emma; he always felt that he was talking to them or about them but maybe they hadn't discussed his siblings. Talk of his family always seemed to center on his father, which tended to happen when military school was brought up. And that topic was brought up more than he liked, but when reminiscing with friends about the first time they met, military school usually would come up. Thinking about it a little more Tristan realized he _had_ let Rory do all the talking; he hadn't voiced anything about his family to her, maybe because he didn't want to make her hurt over losing her mother worse by rubbing in the relationship he had with his siblings. No matter what kind of relationship he had with his parents, Greg and Emma were always there for him and he returned the favor. Although he came home only for his mother's annual spring party, if his siblings asked him to come back for something, even something as little as a playoff game or recital, he would do it without a second thought. They had a strong bond, the three DuGrey children, but without Lorelai Rory's family was practically non-existent. Hindsight showed that he was holding back as a form of protecting her—he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"It's okay," she answered softly. "I should have asked about your family. I should have asked to hear more about you instead of talking about myself all the time." She berated herself mentally for being so absorbed in her problems that she didn't ask her best friend, and now boyfriend, about his life. "I've been a bit selfish and self-absorbed."

"You had every right to be," Tristan reassured her. "You really want to her about Cassie?" Rory nodded and he sighed. "Okay, then let's talk about her. She was my first serious girlfriend. As you said the other night, the first girlfriend that wasn't a girl like Summer. We met one weekend in Raleigh when I was out with some friends from school. Each weekend, depending on your behavior during the week, we would get a couple of hours each day to be on our own, explore the town and get away from school. Although military school was punishment, they also believed in rewarding you for following the rules. It was what drove a lot of guys to do better. Anyway, we were tossing a football around in this park not too far away from school when one of the guys overthrew the ball. I went to get it and saw a gorgeous girl holding it, a smirk on her face. It had been a while since I had really flirted with a girl and apparently I was a little rusty because she just handed the ball over and walked away while laughing."

"Are you telling me that Tristan DuGrey got rejected?" Rory interrupted, shock evident in her voice.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it has happened before, only once before, but still…" He was silent for a minute after that, having wanted to look at her but unable to do so because of the traffic on the road that he was paying attention to. Rory was silent so he assumed she knew who the other girl that had rejected him was. "Moving on though, we returned to that park every weekend and I kept looking for that girl. Hell, I even looked for her in other places around town but I never saw her. Halfway through the semester my father decided that I had shaped up and wanted me to go a regular school. Military school had knocked some much needed sense into me, as he likes to put it, but I was a DuGrey and had to go to Harvard so I needed to go to a top-ranked school. I didn't want to come back to Hartford and Chilton and luckily my mom intervened and for once got her way. It's one of the few times I've heard my mother stand up to my father not back down. They rented me an apartment, got me a car and enrolled me in the top school in North Carolina all the time my dad reminding me that I could easily get re-enrolled in military school."

"Nice of him," Rory said dryly.

"That's Daniel DuGrey for you. I showed up the first day of school—"

"Wait, how were you able to live on your own as a minor?"

Tristan shrugged. "I turned eighteen two months into senior year so my parents didn't think anything of it. I basically had lived on my own before then since my parents were never home."

"Oh."

"The first day of school I showed up at the office, not knowing if these halls would be the same as they were in Chilton while knowing that I was not the same guy who ruled the halls of Chilton. I could easily rule these halls and it turned out I did, but I wasn't the playboy, I was just popular. I showed up at the office and was introduced to a student who would show me to my locker and give me a tour. It was Cassie." Rory smiled, she was a sucker for a love story—even if it was her boyfriend and his ex-girlfriend as the main characters. "And the rest, as they say, is history."

"What happened?" Rory asked before she could stop herself. She knew that if he wanted her to know all the details he would tell her but she wanted to know. Needed to know.

"We graduated, Cassie was going to UNC-Chapel Hill and I had made the decision to go to Oxford. My parents weren't happy about the decision, but at least I was going to be at a reputable school and get a good education. We wouldn't want the heir of the DuGrey fortune to go to a _public_ institution, now would we?" He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, graduation came and went and my parents informed me that I had until the middle of the summer before I was expected in Hartford. I was to be home for the month and a half prior to my departure for England at my mother's request. And I have a hard time denying my mother anything—I have, don't get me wrong—but I hate hearing the sadness in her voice when I do."

"I think your relationship with your mom is sweet," Rory told him. She wanted to reassure him that it was okay for him to talk about the relationship he had with his mother even though her relationship with Lorelai was basically non-existent.

"Cassie and I made the decision that we were going to break up before college prior to my parents' big announcement, but we broke up before I thought we would after the big announcement. She thought it would be easier if we broke it off then, in June, rather then drag out something we know was going to end a month later. So we did. It was the hardest things either of us has ever had to do. We loved each other. It's hard to leave someone you love." Rory nodded in understanding. "We kept in touch for a while and every now and then she phones or emails but we've really lost touch. Being separated by an ocean has that effect."

"I understand." And boy did she ever. Although she knew her relationship with her mother was nothing like Tristan and Cassie's relationship Rory couldn't help but worry that slowly she and her mother would drift further and further apart until they were only exchanging holiday cards and birthday phone calls—if that. The last thing she wanted was for her relationship with her mother to be like Lorelai's relationship with her grandparents. Not wanting to be sad when she saw her father Rory shook her mind of those thoughts—at least momentarily—and looked at Tristan, a small smile on her face. "Thank you for telling me."

"You're welcome."

"Are we there yet?" She asked in a whiny tone, completely changing the mood in the car, which Tristan was extremely grateful for. Talking about Cassie always made the mood somber and he was still concerned about the effect of the conversation on Rory.

Tristan laughed. "Only another twenty minutes or so."

"Goody!" She wiggled around in her seat, obviously excited to see her father.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Even if he had a decent relationship with his mother and even if Rory's close relationship with Lorelai was on the fritz at the moment, Rory still had a relationship with his parents that he could never have. It could be because they were so young when she was born but Tristan had a feeling the relationship was a product of Lorelai removing her daughter from judgmental Hartford society eyes.

"I do. It's weird considering he was not a factor in my life until high school. Through the years he's been around more and more, and I've always liked him being there. Of course he's still in love with my mother so things tend to get awkward and tense between them, especially after what happened at my grandparents vowel renewal, but it's nice to have him around. And I haven't seen my sister in a long time."

"You have a sister?" Tristan was unaware of this.

"Yeah. She's three and a half now. Dad's ex-wife Sheri got pregnant and then left them both to pursue her career in Paris. He hasn't really heard from her since."

They were silent until Rory started giving him directions to her father's town house, bouncing slightly in her seat with excitement. Tristan couldn't help but laugh at her actions even though he was completely taken aback. The girl sitting in the car with him resembled the Rory he knew during Chilton—the polar opposite of the girl he knew now. This was the Rory he wanted everyone at Oxford to know—this was the Rory that he wanted to come back to him. It wasn't that he didn't love who Rory was now, he just liked this version better. He didn't even have the car in park before she opened the car door, slammed it shut and ran towards the front door of the house where her father was standing, a grin on his face.

"Hey kiddo," Chris said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Hi Daddy, how are you?" She hugged him tight, happy that she could see some of her family this holiday weekend—at least some of her blood related family.

"I'm good. How was the drive?"

"Too long!" She declared.

"Hi Chris, how are you?" Tristan came up behind Rory and smiled at the picture in front of him. He wished he had a camera to capture the moment for Rory to remember forever.

"Just fine. Was she this crazy the entire ride?" Rory had let go of him and moved into the house, looking for her sister and leaving the men to follow.

"Only the last twenty minutes or so. She was excited to come here. You don't mind me tagging along do you?" Even if Rory had assured him he was welcome, Tristan wanted to hear it from Chris as well.

"You're family Tristan; you're always welcome, with or without my daughter."

He was shocked by the older man's comments. "Wow. Um, thanks."

"I take it you two are officially a couple now?" Chris asked nonchalantly as he led them towards the back room where he had left Gigi and figured Rory had run off to.

"How did you?"

"I just did."

"Rory said you'd be cool about everything but I didn't really believe her."

"We all saw it coming; I'm glad you got her to come around. Gilmore girls are known for their stubbornness."

"Don't I know it," Tristan muttered. Chris heard him though, and laughed.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of loving a Gilmore girl," he said with a slap on Tristan's back.

"What? No. I don't love…"

"You do," Chris argued, "you just haven't admitted it to yourself yet." He turned his attention to the two girls sitting in front of him. "How are my girls doing?"

"Daddy! Rory's here!"

"I know Gig, it's a nice surprise, isn't it?"

"Yup." She was obviously bored with her father and was about to go back to her sister when she noticed the other man. "Who's that?"

"This is Rory's friend from school, Tristan."

"Are you two married?"

"No Gigi, they're not married, just dating." Gigi had begun to understand the general idea of marriage and assumed that every man and woman she saw together were married. He knew she wouldn't understand what dating was, but that was okay. She seemed pacified with his answer and turned back to the tea party that she was having with Rory. "Come on, let's leave the women to their tea and find some sports to watch!" Rory glared at her father but shooed them away from her fun with her sister.

The men moved into the living room, Chris flipping through the channels until he found some football game on that they could pretend to be watching. "She really is doing okay," Tristan reassured him before he could even say anything.

"How did you know that I wasn't going to ask you something about the game?" Chris asked, surprised that Tristan knew he wanted to talk about Rory. Tristan gave the older man a look and Chris laughed. "Okay, so you're smarter then I gave you credit for," he paused, "is she really okay being this close to her mother and not seeing her?" He was extremely worried that while a trip back to America, specifically Hartford, might be fun, it would also do more emotional damage.

"This is the second heart-to-heart I've had about Rory with her parents today. Man, is this girl draining!" Tristan said running a hand through his short hair in a sign of frustration. While he didn't mind Rory needing him, he was quite tired of having to explain her to her parents. They should know about her, shouldn't they? She grew up completely different then he did, her mother cared _and_ was there and while Chris wasn't always physically there he certainly cared about his daughter.

"What are you talking about?" Chris couldn't have heard him correctly.

"Exactly what you're thinking. I went to Stars Hollow this morning, got Rory breakfast and coffee from Luke's and had an interesting talk with Lorelai. She's just as hurt as Rory but living in the dark about her daughter. I think I got through to her though."

"Really?"

"I told her everything I told you over Rory's birthday, but I was a little more blunt and a bit more harsh. As shocked as Lorelai was to hear some rich, punk who claimed to know her daughter better than she did, she respected me for coming into her town and doing so. When I knew Rory back in high school I was a completely different person, a person that neither of the Lorelais liked."

"Lorelai respects people who don't cower in her presence. They surprise the hell out of her, but she respects them." Tristan nodded; he had figured that out this morning. "Does Rory know what you said?"

He shrugged. "I assume that she does but if you're asking me if I flat out told her I confronted her mother then no, I didn't. There was no reason to upset her. It took enough time to convince her to eat the food I brought, I didn't think she'd appreciate that piece of information."

"She didn't want Luke's?"

"It was a strong reminder of what her life was before things got out of control, what do you think?"

"Right. Right. So how was dinner at your parent's house? As good as dinner at mine?" They shared a laugh. "They didn't eat either of you alive it seems."

"My father tried his hardest though, I can assure you of that."

"People like that don't scare Rory. She's dealt with my parents, she dealt with Mitchum Huntzberger; she doesn't let rich pigheaded men rule her." Tristan thought about pointing out how the whole Mitchum Huntzberger situation was the cause of all of this upheaval but then thought better of it.

"Are you done talking about me now?" Rory called out from the other room.

Tristan could hear the smile in her voice. "Well look who's developed an ego," he called back.

"Please! I'm dating you, I certainly can't have an ego, we'd never fit in the same room."

Tristan scoffed. "I'm hurt!"

"Shush! Are you done?"

The men shared a look. "Yes dear, we're done," he called out to her. "Are you girls finished with your tea party?"

Rory came into the living room, dropping herself into her father's old comfortable recliner and smiled at them. "Yup. It was a great party too. Excellent crimpets. I think Gigi's importing them from England."

"Oh really? Fortnum and Mason?" Tristan teased.

"Of course! Only the best. Although her tea options were slim and she didn't really know how to make a good cup of tea. Then again, I had to resort to tea because she knew nothing about coffee. Why is that?" Rory gave her father a pointed look. The fact that her little sister knew nothing about coffee was unacceptable.

"Not all children are raised drinking coffee instead of milk," Christopher pointed out with a smile.

"Hey! Mom made sure that until the age of seven it was _mostly_ milk!" Rory defended her mother, remembering countless arguments the two had had when Rory wanted more coffee then milk at the age of four.

"Yeah right! Your mother was giving you whole cups of coffee by the time you were two. And don't try to tell me that it was decaf because we both know that Lorelai Gilmore does not drink decaf coffee, not to mention she would never have it in her house. She didn't stop drinking coffee when she was pregnant either."

"You think mom could have survived being pregnant at 16 without coffee? Are you loco? She was living with Grandma and Grandpa; I'm sure coffee was the only thing that kept her going."

"Your mother was crazy back then too."

"Of course she was," Rory said plainly. "There's nothing wrong with that either you know. But the way I grew up is not what's in question."

"Then tell me, darling daughter, what is in question?" Christopher looked at her with a grin, it was nice to see her playful like this.

"Daddy! Hello! My little sister doesn't know anything about drinking coffee. It's unacceptable! I'm going to make some now and teach her. I can't believe you." Rory pushed herself out of the chair and headed for the kitchen, ignoring the calls of both her father and Tristan.

"Are you really going to make your sister drink a full cup of coffee?" Tristan asked from behind Rory, wrapping his arms around her waist as she measured the coffee out.

"Of course not. Most of this is for me, silly. Only about a half-a-cup is for Gigi. She could never drink a whole cup of coffee; mom brought me up on the stuff, I was used to it, but Gigi has to be exposed slowly."

Tristan laughed. That certainly did sound like Lorelai reasoning. "Well, at least she won't be completely off the walls. It is only a half a cup."

"Exactly." She finished with the coffee and pressed the on button, staring at it as though she could force it to percolate faster by her glare. "Did you and my father have a good conversation?" Rory turned around in his arms, smiling up at Tristan.

"We were talking about the game," he tried to convince her.

"You don't even know what game was on Tristan. And don't tell me football."

He grinned, she knew him well. "He's just worried about you Rory. He's trying to be a good father."

"I know. I'm not angry." Rory knew it would be pointless to be upset over her father checking up on her. Her emotions were changing every day and she knew that worried everyone—even Tristan, although he never told her she could see it in his face, with his words, in his actions. "I'm touched, really."

Tristan stared at her for a moment, a little unsure of her sincerity before deciding Rory was actually being sincere. "Well good. We care about you Mary, that's all."

"I'm lucky that you two are in my life." The coffee finished and she clapped her hands before turning around and drinking some. "Oh how I've missed coffee. It's not Luke's, but it'll do." Tristan only shook his head and laughed as she prepared her special cup of coffee for her little sister.


	20. One Last Stop

**Chapter 20: One Last Stop**

"You seem sad," Emma commented as she sat down at the kitchen table, mug in hand, looking at Rory.

Rory looked up at the younger girl with a shocked face. Never did she think in just a few days Tristan's family would be able to read her so well. Then again, it did seem like some kind of woman's intuition was the cause of all of these insights. "I guess I am," Rory answered slowly, as if she hadn't thought about it until Emma spoke.

"I never thought I'd see the day when someone was sad to leave Hartford. Greg and I are jumping up and down at the thought of getting away from Dad."

"Emma!" Maggie scolded from her seat at the table. Although her son wasn't the easiest man to deal with, family was important to her and she hated hearing her granddaughter talking like that.

"Sorry Grams, but it's the truth. You know we love you and Gramps though."

"Sorry I'm late ladies, those meetings last forever sometimes." Eva came into the kitchen stopping to pour herself a cup of coffee before joining them at the table. Greg, Tristan and Janlan were out at the request of the women who wanted to spend time together. Daniel, of course, was too busy with work to think about spending time with the boys.

"Which meeting were you at Mom?" Emma asked, knowing that unlike most of the women in Hartford society, there were very few committees her mother actually enjoyed being on. Most of the things she did were at the insistence of her husband in order to conform to the perfect picture of society life.

"Some planning committee for some event for some rich people," Eva said nonchalantly with a wave of her hand as if she could care less what it was actually about.

"Good job mom, did you fall asleep or just start counting how much money the other women had spent fixing their bodies?" Emma knew her mother's habits during these meetings; the older woman had once shared some of her secrets when Emma was forced to attend one meeting with her.

"Slept with my eyes open this time, actually," she answered proudly. "I haven't actually done it since I was in high school myself, but it's amazing how fast something like that comes back to you."

Rory couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. Not only was the conversation ridiculous, but it certainly explained some of the things Tristan did during high school. "What's so funny?" Maggie asked, a smile on her face from listening to her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, as she looked at Rory who had been quiet since Eva's arrival.

"It's nothing, really," Rory said with a smile as she took another sip from her mug, sad to find it empty. She pushed her chair back and headed to refill her mug and brew some more coffee and continued speaking. "I just got an explanation to why Tristan does some of the things he does. Or at least some of the things he did while we were in high school."

"What do you mean?" Eva asked. Her older son had always been getting in trouble during high school but they never heard anything more than he was disruptive during class and the teacher gave him detention.

"Tristan could never pay attention during classes. I mean, he tried, I'll give him that, but even on my first day at Chilton he got in trouble for staring at my ear."

"Your ear?" Emma asked before bursting out with laughter.

"Yes, my ear," Rory said with a slow nod. "I don't know what that was about but the truth was that Tristan never got in trouble for just 'falling asleep' during class."

"Really?"

"Yes. And Eva's comments about her meeting just explained a lot about Tristan's daydreaming during class. Of course, I still think he was trying to undress the girls or even one or two of the female professors but I could see him adding up the total amount of plastic surgery in the room. Or trying to figure out who was 'connected' to whom in the classroom."

"Six degrees of separation?" Emma asked with a grin.

"A form of that game, I'm sure. And I bet your brother could connect himself to everyone in our grade, probably even the school, without too much trouble."

"That doesn't surprise me, but back to the question at hand," Emma answered, wanting to go back to where they were before her mother walked into the kitchen.

"What question?" Eva asked, not realizing she had interrupted a conversation when she arrived.

"Rory is apparently sad to leave Hartford. I don't understand why and she was just going to tell us."

"Maybe she's enjoying your company, dear," Eva said with a smile, "though I'm not sure why."

"Mom!" Emma glared at her mother playfully, and Rory could see why the DuGrey children had come out of their house only slightly "damaged". Eva DuGrey had a sense of humor and it appeared she had even given her children both her gorgeous smile and troublesome smirk.

"Although it's been great spending time with you, my feelings towards leaving Hartford aren't so simple," Rory told them. She didn't know why she needed to explain herself to anyone, particularly these women who weren't her family so she was going to be as vague as possible. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate Tristan's family but she didn't know them. Tristan she had known for years, had begun to lean on completely these past couple of months, but his family was a different story and their questions felt more like prying instead of concern. "I've been in America for five days now and while I'm happy to be leaving for school tonight and all, I saw my father but no one else in my family. Of course my grandparents are in Europe and will stop back to see me before they return to Hartford and my mom and I aren't speaking at the moment but I haven't seen any of my friends and I'm beginning to realize how much I miss being home. England is great, I love my friends there, I love my life there; I've just forgotten what being at home felt like." She had had no intention of speaking so freely in front of the DuGrey family but she couldn't help herself. Luckily, before things got too awkward, her cell phone rang. "If you'll excuse me," Rory stood, coffee mug still in her hand, and headed for the ringing object in her purse on the stairs. "Hello?"

"Gilmore! How are you? Where are you? Happy Thanksgiving!" A loud voice called out to her.

"Steph?" Rory was confused as to why her friend was calling or even how her friend had gotten this number. Looking at the screen of her phone she saw that the number was Finn's and realized the blonde had probably stolen the phone and called her. "Does Finn know you have his phone?"

"Like he is in any position to do anything about it even if he did know!" Steph said with a laugh. Obviously she meant that Finn was drunk, but that wasn't anything new, Finn was always drunk.

"How are you?" Rory decided talking about Finn having her phone number was not something she wanted to do. "Where are you?"

"What do you mean where am I girlie? I'm in New Haven! Where are you? I know you're not in New Haven!"

"No, I'm not in New Haven," Rory answered hesitantly.

"Are you in America? Finn mentioned you haven't been State-side this year. Actually, everyone has mentioned it. Your grandparents apparently let it slip at some party, you should have seen Logan's response, man!" Sometimes Steph didn't know when to stop talking.

"Are you drunk?" It was noon on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend and while Steph wasn't one to typically get drunk a lot, if she had spent the weekend with her family anything was possible—particularly if she was now hanging out with Finn.

"Drunk? Me? At twelve o'clock on a Sunday? Would I do that?"

"Yes. I've seen you do that many times," Rory pointed out.

"Right, right, well no, I'm not drunk, now…or at least not yet."

"Where are you?" Rory asked again.

"I told you already, I'm in New Haven, you silly girl. What are those British people doing to you?" She laughed at her own joke.

"Is Finn with you?" Rory decided to try another tactic.

"Well he was, but I think he and Colin have tried to escape me."

Suddenly Rory understood. "You've taken them shopping?"

"Where else would we be?"

"I don't know, can I talk to Finn?"

"What? You don't want to talk to me? But _I_ called _you_?"

"I know Steph, just let me talk to Finn please." Rory shook her head, finding it funny that Steph was calling her, obviously drunk, while shopping with Colin and Finn. It hit her that it was possible Logan was there as well but she tried not to think about that fact.

"Finny! Phone!" Steph yelled across the room.

"Phone? What are you doing with my phone love? And what have I told you about calling me that?"

"But you let Rory call you that," Steph argued.

"Reporter girl is an entirely different story," Finn answered immediately. "Who is it?"

"Take a guess," Steph said, and Rory could just see her pushing the phone in Finn's direction.

"Rory? She called me?" Finn obviously was shocked that Rory would make the first move to call him.

"Of course not crazy, I called her!" Steph was obviously proud of herself for stealing Finn's phone and calling Rory, but it didn't seem like Finn was so happy about it.

"Why would you do that?" He asked loudly.

"Geez, Finn, what's your problem? I didn't realize it would be such a big deal considering you're the only one she's talking to. It's not like the two of your were best of friends before she left the country or anything, let's be real. Why it is that _you're_ the only one she's spoken to since the end of school last year I'll never understand."

"Whatever doll." Rory heard Steph stomp off before Finn's voice came through the lines loudly. "Love?"

"Hi Finny, how are you?" Rory was sitting on the stairs wondering if she should be upset or laughing.

"I'm okay…how are you?" He was obviously nervous that Steph had said something to upset her.

"I'm okay. How was your weekend? Are you really shopping? Is Steph drunk?" Rory couldn't hold back her questions.

"It was fine. We all had to do the family thing this weekend but we got away from them last night, well everyone except Logan that is." He instantly regretted mentioning the blonde's name but didn't want to make matters worse by apologizing.

"Mitchum did have him on a tight rope," Rory said softly. "Did she drag you two shopping?" She asked, changing the subject.

"No…why?"

"It sounded like she did."

"Oh, no, she's trying though. Steph's a little upset that Colin and I are just hanging out in our room getting drunk. What are you doing this Thanksgiving? Do they even celebrate in England?"

"No, they don't, which is why I'm not there."

"What? Where are you?" Since his departure on her birthday the pair had kept in pretty good touch and Finn had no idea that she was going somewhere else.

"Oh, Tristan's family invited me for Thanksgiving."

"His family? In Hartford?"

"Yes…"

"So you're less than a half hour away?" He questioned slowly, as if he was still processing the information.

"Yes."

"Okay. So why aren't you staying with your grandparents? Or having a weekend with your dad?"

"Grandma and Grandpa are in Europe for the next couple of weeks. They saw me on their way over and will stop on their way back. I saw Dad the other night, Tristan came with, but the Hayden's don't particularly like me so I wasn't going there for the holiday. I wasn't going to Stars Hollow and Tristan wouldn't let me spending Thanksgiving in England, so here I am."

"When are you leaving?" Finn was trying to hide the hurt that she hadn't called them from his voice.

"Tonight after dinner. We can only miss so much class," Rory pointed out.

"Right. Well then, we're kidnapping you."

"Excuse me?" She had not been expecting that.

"You are to meet us tonight at The Rich Man's Shoe for dinner. And while we love Tristan, it's to be you only, okay? A little Eli reunion, understand?" Finn didn't want to be mean to Tristan but he figured they deserved a little time with Reporter Girl all by themselves.

"I don't know Finn…I don't have a car here."

"I'll send someone to come and get you," he told her immediately.

"That's really…"

"Rory?" Emma's voice came from the doorway from the kitchen.

"Hang on Finn, what's up Emma?" Rory looked to the younger girl and smiled.

"If you need to borrow a car you can use mine. I'll just go home with Mom."

"What? No, I couldn't."

"Don't worry about it. We're all having dinner here anyway, go and see your friends and come back here. I'll drive home from dinner and you'll get to the airport with Tristan as planned."

"Take the doll up on her offer or I'm coming to get your myself love," Finn's voice said into Rory's ear.

Rory looked up at Emma and sighed. She knew that if she didn't leave now she'd have to explain to Tristan and tell him that he couldn't come with and she didn't want to hurt his feelings. She also knew that having Finn come pick her up would only raise more questions that she had no interest in answering at the moment. Apparently her decision was made. "Are you sure you don't mind Emma?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I did," she promised.

"Thanks." Rory smiled and then returned her attention to the phone. "What time should I meet you Finn?"

"Leave now and we'll be waiting at the pub for you," he answered.

"Okay, I'm going. I'll see you soon." Without waiting for an answer Rory hung up the phone and pushed herself off the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Emma says you're going to borrow her car," Eva said to Rory as she walked into the kitchen.

"Some friends of mine have asked me to meet them for dinner…if you don't mind that is." Rory looked back and forth between Eva and Maggie half hoping they wouldn't be upset and half hoping they would be.

"Not at all. These are friends from Yale?" Maggie asked with a smile.

"Yes. They're a bit hurt I didn't tell them I'd be so close this holiday."

"That's understandable dear," Eva said with a smile. "You go have a good time, we'll handle Tristan for you. Just be back in time to get to the airport."

Rory nodded. "Not a problem. I should go get ready, they wanted me there five minutes ago," Rory smiled at the group of women, "I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

**GGGGGGGGGG**

"Reporter Girl!" Rory had literally just stepped through the doorway of the pub when she heard Colin's voice. Looking up with a smile she was taken aback when he grabbed her in a huge hug.

"Hey Colin, how are you?" In the year and a half she had know him, Rory had never seen Colin so affectionate while sober—and he was sober, she knew that much.

"Good, good, how are you? It's good to see you. You look great, Finn was right about Oxford treating you well." He let go to look at her for a minute before leading her over to the bar where he had previously been standing. "What do you want to drink?" Before letting her answer he ordered her usual drink, handed it to her, along with what looked like Steph's choice of drink this evening and led her to the back where she knew the others would be waiting.

"Rory!" Steph stood as soon as she saw her old friend, letting the brunette put the drinks down before giving her a hug. "It's good to see you! I'm glad Finn talked you into coming out here!"

"He really didn't give me much of a choice," Rory answered, throwing Finn a grin over Steph's shoulder.

"Oh come on doll, don't give me that look, you know you wanted to see us." He nodded to the open seat next to him, which she took making sure to give him a hug before settling down in her seat.

"Now tell me all about your weekend," Rory demanded as she took a sip of drink and sat back to catch up with her friends.

"Oh you know how family can be," Steph answered in an annoyed tone. "They were happy to see us for five minutes and then we were old news. As long as we caused no trouble everything was okay."

"Were you guys together for dinner?" Rory didn't remember their families spending Thanksgiving together.

Colin nodded. "It just happened to work out that way. You didn't miss anything though."

"Good to know."

"How's Tristan's family?" Steph asked. "Better yet, how's Tristan?"

"He's good," Rory said with a blush.

"How good?" Finn asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Finn!" Rory blushed an even deeper shade of red and hit him on the arm.

"What? Have you guys stopped dancing around each other yet?"

Rory glared at him. "Yes! We have!"

"Good!"

She stuck his tongue out at him.

"Okay, so what does that mean exactly?" Steph asked, wanting them to stop being so childish, but that was a lot to ask when Finn was involved.

"We're dating," she said softly.

"Good for you doll!" Rory blushed and they all laughed.

"So, tell me about him!" Steph said after a moment or two of silence while they looked through menus that they had previously memorized.

"Excuse me?" Rory looked up at her friend, having been completely lost in her own thoughts and wondering if Tristan was upset with her for coming here without him.

"Tristan, your new blonde boyfriend. I want to know all about him. Finn hasn't told me anything, wouldn't tell me anything, and I've tried, trust me, I've tried, but when this guy doesn't want you to know something, you're not going to know! No amount of alcohol worked either, let me tell you, and I got him some of the best stuff out there!"

Rory couldn't help but laugh over her friend's anxiousness to learn more about her new boyfriend. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell her old friends about her new friends or her new boyfriend, but it was a little weird for her. She had left these friends and this life behind, looking for something new and different, looking to find out who she really was without something guiding her along, and now she had to find a way to combine her lives. It wasn't that she thought her Yale friends wouldn't like or get along with her Oxford friends, but it was strange to have to think of them as co-exisiting. And of course there was the report she knew they would give Logan and what exactly would they tell him? How would he handle it? They said he hadn't been overjoyed to hear that she left the country to begin with but now they would be telling her about new friends and a new boyfriend and would that just be adding salt to an open wound? What about them? Would they mind hearing about her new life? Of course they couldn't have expected her to close herself off completely but when she started at Yale her high-society friends were few and far between and now it seemed like she was mingling with some of the richest kids in the world. Not that this group surrounding her wasn't full of class and money, but her Oxford friends were on a slightly different level, that couldn't be denied, especially Tristan. "You didn't tell them anything?" Rory asked with raise of her eyebrows at Finn. She couldn't imagine him really keeping quiet for so long about something so "important".

"Not a word doll, and let me tell you, that was some good alcohol, took a lot of self-control not to spill."

"Self-control? You know what that is?" Rory said with a grin.

"Hey! Remember who taught you how to drink?" He asked with a grin.

"Yes, I do," she answered with a nod. "It was my mother when I was 15 years old who taught me..."

"Oh please doll! Your birthday wasn't that long ago. And as gorgeous as your mother is, she and I definitely don't look alike!"

Forcing herself to throw all thoughts of Lorelai away, Rory just laughed at him. "I could never forget you, or your song Finn, don't worry. I don't think my friends have forgotten either."

"There we go! Back on track!" Steph interrupted their conversation. "Now tell me about these friends, but more importantly tell me about this Tristan! We knew him when we were younger but haven't seen him in years. What happened to him?" They paused as they ordered dinner and then turned back to stare at Rory obviously waiting for her response.

"Well I've known Tristan since I was 16 years old. Even back at Chilton he had a huge crush on me. Of course back then he was just a pompous rich kid who thought that he could win me over with a smirk and some charm." Rory shook her head at the memories of Tristan from their Chilton days.

"It seems that all rich blondes have the same persona, doesn't it?" Colin asked with a smile. While Steph may not remember the details behind Finn joining their group and Tristan leaving, Colin had a vivid memory of there not being enough room for two rich cocky blondes in their group. This split happened at the same time they were sent away to boarding school while Tristan was forced to continue on at Chilton without any of his friends.

Rory nodded slowly. "They are quite similar." She would have continued but was interrupted by her phone. "Hello?" She pulled the object out of her purse and answered without looking at the caller-id.

"Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?" Steph started bugging her as soon as she answered the phone. "Is it lover boy?"

Rory glared at her friend. "Could you be quiet for one minute?"

"Oooo, it is him!" She was extremely excited over this for some reason. "Can I talk to him? I wanna talk to him!" Steph hadn't spoken to Tristan since they were in middle school, and even back then they didn't hang out together all that often. He was friends with the guys and saw her as nothing but another girl to screw.

"Is that Stephanie?" Tristan asked in Rory's ear. He could hear a very energetic girl asking to speak with him and although he didn't remember her voice clearly from when they were younger he could put the pieces together.

"Yeah, you wanna say hi?"

"Say hi? To Who? To Me?" Steph continued talking into Rory's other ear.

"What has gotten into you?" Colin asked as he watched her moving from side to side in her seat. It had been a long time since he'd seen Stephanie have ants in her pants like this, and the more he thought about it the more Colin realized she hadn't been like this since Rory left. Although there had been other girls in their group, many who were more permanent fixtures then Rory Gilmore, Rory had been the one to bring out Steph's true inner girl. Steph had always been one of the guys, but Rory's arrival had changed her, as did the brunette's departure; now, Steph could be labeled "such a girl" only because of her love to shop--even the blonde's eating habits had changed back to meals of salad and other tasteless items.

Steph only rolled her eyes at him. "Let me talk to him Reporter Girl!"

"Sorry Tris, I don't think I can get you out of this one," Rory said with a sigh before handing the phone to her friend. "You get no more than five minutes," she warned.

"You don't trust me?" Steph asked, trying to sound hurt.

"Four minutes and forty-seconds," Rory said with a straight face, "thirty-eight...thirty-seven."

"Okay! Okay! Stop counting!" Steph brought the phone up to her ear and with a smile greeted Tristan. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Tristan DuGrey."

"It's nice to speak to you too Miss Vanderbilt," Tristan said with a smile. It had been a while, but he could still picture the stick straight blonde-hair and green eyes of Stephanie Vanderbilt and wondered if she looked the same.

"You remember me, how interesting..."

"You're a hard one to forget, Steph," Tristan told her. "You were the only girl I knew whose only feminine traits are loving to shop and eating rabbit food. You were usually just one of the guys."

"Yeah, and look how far that's gotten me," she said in a slightly bitter tone.

"You can stop that any time you want you know, I'm sure Colin's interested. He's just a little too shy to say anything. Then again, you've known him since we were all eight, if he hasn't made a move by now it might not matter what you do."

She couldn't help but laugh. "And how do you know how he feels? It's been quite some time since we've seen you around these parts."

"While that is true," he answered, "some things never change. McCrae has had a crush on you since we first met you that day in the sandbox."

"Now I know you're making that up."

"Believe what you will. So are you four playing nicely?"

Once again Stephanie laughed, causing the rest of the people at the table to look at her for a moment before going back to their own conversation. "We miss her, you know, we all do."

"I know." He sighed. "She misses you too, but you're not going to get her back. She's not ready yet. And even if she was I don't think she'd admit it to herself. And I know how you feel, I've missed her all these years we've been apart as well. Once you befriend Rory Gilmore it becomes impossible not to love her and even more impossible to forget her."

"The guys say she brings out my inner-girl. I have to say I think they're a little upset that part of me went away with her." Steph's voice had lowered, not wanting the others to hear the conversation, as if they could hear anything besides their own conversation given their loud voices mixed in with those of everyone else around them.

"I'm telling you, admit your feelings to Colin and you'll be back to being 'such a girl' in no time."

Rory watched as Steph continued her somewhat intense conversation with her boyfriend, wondering what they were talking about. "I didn't know Tristan was such good friends with you guys," she said randomly to Colin and Finn.

"Tristan used to hang out with me, Steph and Logan when we were younger." He felt bad about bringing Logan's name into the conversation but it was hard to leave him out of every story since they all grew up together. He did figure, however, it was better to say it and quickly move on instead of harping on it. "We played together like good little Hartford society kids when we were younger but then one day we got in a bit of trouble..."

"I can't say that surprises me," Rory interrupted him, a smile on her face.

"We were rowdy ten-year-old boys, what did you expect?" Colin asked with a smile.

"You still act like rowdy ten-year-old boys and you're 22!" Rory exclaimed. "And where did Steph fit in?" She hardly saw her blonde friend as one to be rowdy and a troublemaker.

"She was usually the one with the idea, the guys and I executed it. And it's still that way now, well most of the time," Colin admitted with a shrug. "Anyway, we got in trouble for something or other and our parents, meaning mine and Logan's, decided it was time we were sent away to boarding school. Stephanie begged her parents to let her go with us, so they gave in, but Tristan's parents refused to send him away. It would be against better society judgment to send him off to some boarding school in Europe, instead his punishment was to continue in private school in Hartford without his friends and fellow trouble-makers."

"Daniel didn't realize the kind of people he'd meet in Chilton then, did he? I would pick you guys over Duncan and Bowman any day."

"I don't know if that's a compliment or not Gilmore." Colin looked to be thinking it over. "I'll take it as one and say thank you so we can move on with the story. Anyway, when we got to boarding school Finn took Tristan's place. We've kept in touch when we've all been in Hartford at the same time but it wasn't that often, especially after Tristan got sent off to military school and then opted for Oxford."

"Oh. Well, he could have come tonight, you know. Tristan probably would have enjoyed it, based on the conversation he's having with Steph." Rory watched her friend talking to her boyfriend, slightly shocked at how animated and heated the conversation seemed to be.

"Don't be jealous love, I've seen the way DuGrey looks at you, he doesn't want anyone else," Finn told her as he followed her glance.

"Oh, no, I'm not worried about that," Rory reassured him. All of the sudden Steph thrust the phone in her direction.

"He's bored with me, wants you back."

Rory laughed. "You're bored with her?"

"Eh, she didn't like what I had to say."

"And what was that exactly?"

"That she needs to grow a pair and date Colin since we know he won't ask her out himself." Rory was shocked for a second before she started laughing.

"I hate you!" Steph said with a glare, leaving the boys at the table staring at the two of them wondering what happened that they had missed.

**GGGGGGGGG **

"You really didn't have to come with me, you know. I am perfectly capable of driving to the airport; I did drive all the way to New Haven myself," Rory pointed out to Finn for the millionth time in the last ten minutes. After dinner he had insisted on driving Rory to the airport, having Colin and Steph follow behind in Colin's car.

"And for the millionth time I am telling you that I know you could drive yourself but we wanted to take you." Their dinner conversation had gone long, leaving Rory no time to drop Emma's car off at her grandparents house, instead forcing her to bring it to the airstrip for her to take from there.

When the finally reached the airstrip, Maggie DuGrey was waiting for them. "He's pacing, you know," she said with a kind smile and a hug.

"Really?" Rory couldn't help but smile over this. Tristan didn't pace, it was a habit that drove him crazy. He would pull at his hair and scream, but pacing he hated.

"He didn't think you'd make it on time. Emma's trying to convince him that it's the family place, we can leave whenever we want, but he doesn't seem to understand that. Personally I think he just missed you."

She couldn't help but blush. While spending time with the female DuGreys and her Yale friends was great, she rarely spent this much time away from Tristan and had missed him throughout the course of the day as well. "Oh, well I guess I should go announce my presence then." Rory started moving towards the plane when she remembered her friends. "Oh! Maggie, these are my friends Finn, Colin and Stephanie. Guys, this is Tristan's grandmother Maggie DuGrey. We all went to Yale together," she explained.

"It's nice to meet you kids. I do happen to know your parents, but didn't you use to hang out with Tristan when you were younger?" She didn't remember the tallest of the two boys, but the shorter one and the blonde brought back specific memories."

"We did Mrs. DuGrey," Stephanie answered with a smile. "Although the Australian joined the group once we all had to leave Hartford, and Tristan, behind."

Maggie nodded. "Well I can only assume that he'll be happy to see you all if for no other reason that you brought his Mary back to him." The four shared a laugh and all chose that minute to look for the girl in question to find that she was no longer around.

"I was wondering how we got to have that conversation without her protesting or turning red," Colin said with a grin.

"She's probably with Tristan by now," Maggie told them, the smile on her face growing. "I've never seen two people more attached to each other or attuned to the other's feelings. A big deal for Tristan considering he never lets anyone close to him."

"Rory's not so easy to understand either," Stephanie answered as they all walked towards the group surrounding the plane. "She might seem like an easy read but you don't realize how complicated she is until you really start getting to know her."

Maggie nodded. "A bit like an onion then, isn't she? Or at least it sounds like that analogy people are always using."

The three Eli's laughed. "Yes, that's the analogy," Colin conferred.

"My feelings are really quite hurt love," Finn drawled as they approached Rory who was indeed standing with Tristan while he spoke with his brother and sister.

"And why is that Finny?" She turned towards her friend, her hand still encased within Tristan's. Emma laughed at both of their "cutesy" tones and the annoyed look of Finn's face at Rory's name.

"I really hate that name doll," he said, momentarily forgetting the true topic of conversation.

Rory shrugged. "That's okay, you love me anyway." She grinned and couldn't help but laugh at his shrug of a response. "I win!" She said proudly.

"That's not the point of this conversation," he said immediately.

"Oh really?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "And here I thought that you wanted to talk to me about my improper use of a nickname for Finnegan, I can't believe I was so naïve," she was playing and laughing in a way that not many had seen her act in a while, "please enlighten me Finnegan Edward Morgan on what we were really talking about here."

Finn started at her for a moment or two, wondering who had brought back the "normal" Rory and glanced at his friends to see that they weren't paying attention. Deciding it was better not to draw attention to Rory's mood swing he continued, a grin on his face as well. "We were discussing my hurt feelings."

"Oh really" Once again she raised her eyebrows at him. "And why exactly are your feelings hurt? Did _I _hurt them?" She gave him her Bambi eyes and batted her lashes "innocently".

"Oh come on doll, you know that's not playing fair!"

"Why Finnegan, whatever do you mean?" She batted her lashes at him again and could barely hold in her laughter. It felt nice to be this carefree again. What Rory didn't see however, was the looks she was getting from everyone else around her, all for different reasons. Steph, Colin and Tristan were each wondering how Rory had become so relaxed to act in a way rarely seen these days while the rest of Tristan's family finally saw what made Tristan fall head over heels with her. While those present saw nothing wrong with Rory and knew Tristan had been in love with her since they were in high school, it was not until this moment and this conversation and this playful tone that they understood exactly why Tristan loved her so.

"You ditched us!" He declared. "You ditched us and left us with _Tristan's grandmother_—_his high society grandmother!!!_" Finn said the last part in a loud whisper, knowing that anyone who heard would also hear his playful tone. He also knew Rory would understand his true point, as well as the others. And the smiles he saw on the others confirmed his thoughts. "I can't believe you would do that to us!"

"I'm sorry Finny," Rory answered trying to keep a straight face. "I won't let it happen again. I swear! Girl Scouts honor!"

"Girl Scouts honor?" Finn said in horror. "You said you weren't allowed to be a Girl Scout! Something about Lorelai eating all the cookies and having no artist talent and the other mother's thinking she was a bad influence and… well… do I need to go on?"

Rory scowled at him. "I'll have you know that it had nothing to do with eating all the cookies, they loved getting that money from Mom! It had more to do with the lack or artist ability and total lack of interest in fulfilling badge needs. I mean, seriously, who wants a sports badge or a camping badge anyway? All that physical labour and outdoor activity, it can't be good for your health! Now had those Girl Scouts understood the real world they would have badges for movie nights and musical knowledge and sugar coma records! They would also have a badge for surviving your overprotective, society-driven grandparents and absentee father, but no one can be perfect I guess." The laughter from around Rory started with Finn but quickly spread around the group until the only one with a straight face was Rory. "What? What's so funny? I'm just telling the truth!"

"We know Mare, that's what makes it so funny," Tristan reassured her through his own laughter. He couldn't resist kissing the top of her head once he caught his breath. "You're one in a million Mary and I wouldn't trade you for anyone else in the world."

The blush that spread across Rory's face was deep and her eyes immediately dropped to the ground. "Don't we have to get back across the Atlantic? There is homework to get done and classes to attend and books to read and friends to talk to. I can't imagine what we've missed in five days."

"Don't you ever think about anything but school Reporter Girl?" Colin asked, not letting Tristan answer her first.

"Just because some of us actually care about grades and don't have Mommy and Daddy willing to pay people so we pass…"

"Hey! I take offense to that!"

"Sorry Colin," Rory said before correcting herself. "Not all of us have a rich, string-pulling father to make sure we get extensions if needed."

"Thank you. And I'll have you know that I_ do_ study."

"I know you do," Rory reassured him with a gentle smile, "it's just so easy to rile you up!" Dropping Tristan's hand for a moment Rory reached forward and pinched his cheeks.

"Get on the damn plane Gilmore!" Colin demanded, pulling back from her grip.

Rory laughed. "Weren't you the one trying to convince me to stay here over dinner?"

"I was delusional. Finn must have put something in my drink!"

"Hey! I'm hurt!" Finn yelled.

"Don't worry about it Finn, we'll go back to the pub and find you a pretty red head," Steph soothed him, running a hand down his back.

Finn's smile grew. "You're a good friend, Gorilla girl." The four Eli's laughed at the memory of that particular nickname.

"I fear it is time for us to get on that plane, however," Rory said sadly.

"Call when you get in?" Steph replied immediately. "I just want to know you're okay." Rory nodded and the two girls hugged. "Don't forget about me. I have a phone and email and a plane that can take me to you anytime I please."

"Really?" Rory didn't know she really had a plane at her disposal.

"Okay so Huntz has a plane at his disposal but it's Honor's too and she loves me and she loves England so it's not a problem. She loves you too, you know."

"She was pretty fun, I'd be happy to see her again. As long as it didn't get back to him…" Rory's voice trailed off, she wasn't quite sure she was ready to see, hear about or talk to Logan quite yet.

"I know, I would never do that to you."

"You're a good friend," Rory said softly, hugging her close. "Thanks for everything."

"Don't be a stranger and remember to call. I love running up a good international phone bill, even more so when it's a real reason!"

"You mean calling your designer friends in Europe isn't a real reason?" Rory teased, her voice going back up to a normal level.

"In my parent's mind it's not as real as talking to you would be. So if you could just happen to be with my designer friends when I call that would help as well."

"I'll see what I can do," she promised.

"Thanks," Steph let her go and Rory moved on to Colin.

"It was good to see you again Colin." Rory was slightly at a loss of what to say. She was friends with Colin, that was true, but he had also been friends with Logan since they were in diapers and that made things weird.

"I'm glad you're doing okay, Reporter Girl. We were all worried, _all_ of us." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I know you may not really want to hear this but I'm going to tell him we saw you. He's been worried, I just want him to know that you're really okay. He has no idea Finn was out there for your birthday."

Rory nodded. "You really are a good friend Colin."

"Thanks." He blushed. "Don't forget about us, you hear?" He hugged her, a move that surprised Rory but was nice just the same. "And when you're in those designer stores calling Steph make sure she's with us so we can say hi as well. I mean, I'm sure Robert's just dying to find out what you're up to."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Yes, the minute I talk to Robert is the same second I let my big strong, military school graduate boyfriend, handle the situation."

"Are you talking about me Mary?" Tristan shouted from the other side of their group where he was saying goodbye to his grandparents.

"I didn't think your ego could get any bigger Tris!" Rory shouted back. Everyone laughed. "Thanks for everything Colin." She hugged him again before letting go and smiling at him. "Stay safe and do me a favor?" She waited to make sure he was listening before continuing. "Ask Steph out, okay? I promise she'll say yes." Before Colin could yell at her, Rory turned and smiled at Finn, sending him a silent message before going off to say goodbye to Tristan's family.

"Finn has your keys Emma," Rory told the younger girl once she was standing in front of him. "I drove in the car with him so I know he didn't hurt it."

Emma laughed. "Don't worry about it. If he did I'll just make Daddy replace it. He owes me something, right?"

"There's a good spoiled rich girl," Rory teased her.

"Thank you, I learned from the best you know. Tristan is the ultimate spoiled rich kid."

"I know," Rory agreed with a nod. The girls laughed. "It was great to meet you, I still can't believe I never knew you existed before this weekend."

"My brother can be quite mysterious sometimes."

"Hopefully he's got no other big secrets up his sleeve."

"I doubt it."

Rory nodded. "Keep in touch, okay? Even if you just make him hand over the phone to me when you chat. And stay sane in Hartford, it's not all that bad and Chilton isn't the worst place in the world. I transferred and had very few friends my first year and a half and still survived."

"Thanks," Emma said with a nod. "Have a good time at school and keep my brother in line." She leaned forward and hugged Rory before continuing. "Keep him sane, Daddy's really going to start coming down hard on him this next year and a half."

"Thanks for the heads up," Rory said with a nod. She moved from one sibling to the next with a smile on her face. "Don't end up like your brother and get transferred to military school—you could end up leaving the girl of your dreams behind."

"And let it take an extra four and a half years, stolen property and three crazy ex-boyfriends for us to be together? I'm not that crazy!" Greg joked with her.

"He really tells you everything, doesn't he?"

Greg immediately regretted what he said. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant…"

"Don't worry, I know you don't know the details," Rory reassured him. "Just try and keep yourself in Hartford until you leave for college. Then piss the man off, okay?"

"Deal!" Greg hugged her tight for a minute. "You're really good for Tristan, thanks for coming back into his life."

Rory felt tears build and pushed them back. "He's really good to me, I only hope I am helping him in the same way."

"You are Rory Gilmore, you are."

Greg walked away, towards his brother leaving Rory facing Eva DuGrey. "I'm sorry my husband was so crass in front of you the other evening."

"I've heard worse," Rory told her, thinking back to the one time she had met her father's parents.

"Well I'm sorry for whatever those people said as well, you deserve nothing anyone has said, you're a lovely young woman."

"Thank you Eva. You're much different then I expected."

Eva laughed. "I believe that is a compliment."

"It is," Rory reassured her.

"I know my husband is a bit to handle and that he expects a lot from Tristan and that I don't have much a backbone when it comes to him, but it's hard…"

"I recognize that Eva, just remember that your kids do need you. They need you to be strong for them because every now and then your husband _does_ listen to you. Though everyone has a destiny and Tristan's was to go to military school and Oxford while mine was to go to Yale, get a little screwed up and end up at Oxford…with him. I believe in destiny and fate Eva, this was apparently the path marked out for me and Tristan, any other way would have been too easy or gotten screwed up years ago. We're older and wiser now, we're in better positions to have a relationship."

"A relationship I hope will last for many years to come," Eva said sincerely. "I would like nothing more than to have you as a daughter Rory."

Not knowing what to say at that exact moment Rory just stared at Tristan's mother. "I can't tell you what that means to me or how scared I am of what you just said, but thank you."

"I didn't mean…" Eva was worried she had screwed something up with her words.

"You didn't do anything, don't worry about it." Rory smiled at her once more, accepting the hug she offered and then moved on to the elder DuGreys who were waiting patiently to speak with her.

"You have quite a group here with you," Janlan said with a smile.

"Your family is a amazing," Rory told him. "You should be proud."

"I am," he confirmed, "although I do wish my son would have turned out a little bit better."

Rory nodded in understanding. "There's always a black sheep in the family."

"Your mother was the one in the Gilmore family, wasn't she?"

"And my father was the black sheep of the Hayden family. I, however, seem to be a grey sheep."

The three shared a laugh. "Thank you for coming back into Tristan's life," Maggie said seriously.

Rory was a bit taken aback by the comment. "While I am happy to be around him again, I must assure you it's a fluke that I am. A lot of mistakes on my end caused me to be with him now."

"As did a lot of mistakes on his end," Maggie pointed out. "Weren't you just talking to Eva about fate?"

She blushed. "I was, but I really don't like people praising my mistakes, they were big and painful."

"I know you miss your mother," Maggie held up her hand signaling Rory to let her continue without interruption, "but sometimes spending time apart from someone you love is necessary."

"I guess so."

"Trust me."

Rory nodded. "Thank you for everything; letting me staying with you and spend Thanksgiving with your family."

"You enjoyed your time away from school then?" Janlan asked.

"As much as a bookworm could enjoy time away from school I did."

They both laughed. "I'm glad you could let it go for a short time then."

Rory nodded. "Thanks again for everything and please let us know whenever you're in Europe…I'll make sure Tristan sees you."

Once again the couple laughed. "If you want him to go, I'm sure he will. Of course we would insist upon seeing you both," Janlan told her.

"If you want me to be there, I will be."

"Be where?" Tristan asked, coming up behind Rory and wrapping his arms around his waist.

"None of your business," Rory answered with a smile. "Now I need to say goodbye to Finn. Thanks again, for everything," she said seriously to Maggie and Janlan before breaking away from Tristan's hold and hugging his grandparents. "Give me five minutes and then I should be okay," she told Tristan before wandering off in Finn's direction who was standing a ways off from everyone else as if knowing she would want privacy for their goodbye.

"Are you okay doll?" Finn asked once she was standing in front of him.

Rory nodded. "His family is a great group of people. Minus his father of course. Why is it always the father?" Her question was more rhetorical then serious but it was still something that bothered her. "Granted, of course, both Mitchum and Shira were wretched people and Colin's had more step-mothers then anything else but still, why is it always the father who's the evil one?"

"It goes back to the whole male heir thing," Finn told her. "The pressure is greater and the only way a man knows how to treat his children is how his father treated him and his siblings."

"That makes sense."

"Now I know that's not really what's on your mind."

"Tristan was in Stars Hollow. He went to Luke's. He spoke to Luke. He spoke to Lane. Hell, he even spoke to mom and from what I could tell from his conversation with my dad the other day he had quite the conversation with my mother. I'm surprised he came back without a scar."

"Maybe what he said actually made sense to your mother. Maybe his words gained his respect in her eyes."

"That is a possibility," Rory relented. "If it made so much sense and she knew I was so close why didn't she call or write or _something_?"

"Why didn't you call or write or something?" Finn countered.

"I'm too hurt. And I'm the child. For once she should be the adult. She should be the adult besides the times where she pulls the mom card."

Finn nodded. "She should be, that's true, but it's going to take time. You were both seriously hurt by everything that happened the end of last year. Neither of you can get over something like that so quickly."

"I miss her," Rory said softly.

"I know you do love. And she misses you."

"How do you know?" Her voice went down another octave, causing Rory to sound more and more like a scared and upset child.

"Because I know your mother and I know the relationship the two of you had. You're both stubborn, driven women and I bet your mom has only just been showed the error of her ways. It's going to take her a little time to digest the fact that she too was in the wrong. Once that happens and she knows how to approach you she'll do it. She also needs reassurance that you won't hang up the phone and that you know you're wrong as well."

"I was wrong," Rory answered him.

"And I bet you Tristan told her that you realized that. I also bet he told her that you needed her to make the first move, because after all she's the parent and you're the child. No matter how old your children are they always need a parent."

"It's true."

"Especially with your relationship with Lorelai, you'll always need your Mommy. And before you get on my case love, that wasn't meant to be a dig."

"I know Finny." Rory smiled up at him. "You're a good friend, you know that?'

"I have been told so."

"Drunk _or_ sober, you're a good friend."

"Well that certainly is a compliment. I don't know if anyone has ever told me that before."

"I'm glad I could be the first then." Rory said nothing else before throwing her arms around Finn. With a smile on his face, the tall Australian wrapped his arms around the petite brunette, picking her up and holding on tight. He grinned as she wrapped her legs around his waist locking herself to his body. They stayed that way for a few minutes before Finn said something.

"They're starting to stare doll, and I think your man is a bit jealous."

Rory laughed into the crook of his neck. "He can suck it up, there's nothing more than friendship going on here. You are going to find yourself another girl as soon as I get on that plane."

"You're taken love, I need someone to drown my sorrows in." Rory laughed into his shoulder and hugged him tight again.

"Promise you'll come visit me again?"

"Meet us somewhere in Europe for spring break?"

"Us?" Rory looked up into his green eyes slightly scared.

"There'll be lots of LDB folks there. Colin, Steph and I will break away for a day or two, it won't seem that weird, I promise. And bring all your friends from school."

"I'll see what I can do," Rory told him. "You guys can bring other LDB people if you want, you know. And I know it'll be weird for Logan for you all to disappear and he can't come so…"

"Let's cross that bridge when we get there, okay?" Finn said, stopping her flow of words.

Rory nodded. "You're a good friend Finny."

He grimaced at her choice of name. "I really hate that name love."

"And I really love you."

"I love you too." He hugged her tight one last time before letting her slide down his body until her feet hit the ground. "Be safe, and let us know when you land." Rory nodded trying to hide the tears falling down her face from his view. But, of course, Finn could tell. "Don't cry love, call anytime you need me, okay?" Rory nodded and quickly moved towards the plane, ignoring everyone, including Tristan and climbing the stairs. She couldn't take goodbyes again. "You take good care of her, you hear?" Finn said to Tristan who was now standing next to him.

Tristan nodded. "Always." He stood silently looking at the plane for another few minutes before looking at Finn. "She's okay?"

"She misses Lorelai," he told him, "but she'll be okay. They're on the mend, aren't they?"

"They're definitely closer."

"You did a good thing."

"That's what I keep telling myself."

"She thinks so too."

Tristan nodded. "Thanks for being so good to her. I assume we'll be seeing you all soon?"

Finn nodded. "We're planning on it."

"Good."

"Let us know you get there safely, okay?"

"Definitely. Thanks again Finn." Tristan shook the brunette's hand and with a final wave to the others climbed the stairs of the plane looking for his girlfriend and gearing himself up for the long flight back to school.


	21. Officially Unofficial No Longer

**Chapter 21: Officially Unofficial No Longer**

"Good morning." A cheery voice greeted Rory as she walked into her nine a.m. class with her eyes half shut.

"Shhh, early," she whispered, raising her coffee cup to her mouth only to tip it all the way back, then put it down on the table in front of her and groan. "No, no, no, no, NO!"

"What's going on?" Addison asked as he took a seat on the other side of Rory.

"I think she's out of coffee," Lucy told him.

"Uh-oh, they didn't get in until late, the weather was bad up here, this isn't good. We need to get her more."

"Call Eli, he's running late as usual," Lucy suggested and laughed as Addison pulled out his phone to call their friend. Eli arrived five minutes later holding two coffees, Rory grabbing one out of his hand and drank almost the entire cup without stopping.

"Tell me that other one's for me and I'll love you forever," she said looking at Eli with her big eyes.

Eli laughed and handed the cup over. "Would I think of teasing you on a morning like this?"

"You better not." Rory took the cup from him and drank a bit before putting it down on the table. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

"Does Tristan know about these feelings?" Lucy asked her with a laugh.

"Tristan knows that I love anyone who brings me coffee and he definitely knows that I really love anyone who brings me coffee this morning."

"Oh really? Late night last night?" Eli teased her.

"Yes, it was." Rory took another sip of her coffee before she realized what Eli had implied. "You pervert! That is not why I need so much coffee. Geez, just because we're officially dating doesn't mean we're at it like rabbits. In fact…"

Rory never got to finish her sentence though. "Excuse me? Officially dating?" Lucy squealed, ready to ask a bunch of questions but was interrupted by the professor.

"Good morning. We left off Thursday afternoon discussing Mary Queen of Scots…"

Lucy gave Rory a look letting her know that the conversation wasn't over before pulling out her notebook and pen attempting to pay attention to the professor.

**GGGGG**

As Rory sat in class with her friends Tristan had gone back to his own room to unpack and look over the work his friends had left for him. His Monday classes didn't start until the afternoon and he was looking forward to a little bit of time to relax and process exactly what happened this weekend. Not to mention the jet lag was starting to catch up with him as well.

"You're back!" Carter greeted him once he got in the dorm.

_So much for getting some quiet time_, Tristan thought as he nodded to his friend. "Yeah. We got back late last night, or early this morning depending on how you want to look at it. I stayed over there."

"I figured you would, you always do."

"Not true, we stay here some nights."

Carter rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it. Sometimes you two act like a married couple, you know that?"

He was unsure if he actually heard traces of jealously and annoyance in his friend's voice or he was just jet lagged and trying to de-stress after a weekend with his family in Hartford. "We do not act like a married couple. We act like people who are dating who have extreme feelings for the other. And it's not like you and Ella are much different."

"We can spend nights apart," Carter argued.

"Don't talk about things you know nothing about," Tristan warned him.

"I hit a nerve, huh?"

"Are you drunk?" He looked at his friend for a minute and thought about locking himself in his room until he had to go to class to get away from Carter's craziness. "Wait a minute, what happened? Something happened with Ella. Didn't you meet her family this weekend?"

"Nothing happened."

"Now I know you're lying." Tristan threw his bag into his room and took a seat on the couch. I guess sleep just isn't going to happen for me this morning he realized as he got comfortable and waited for the story. "What happened with her parents? You two were all excited for it."

"We were," Carter agreed with a nod of his head. "It just..."

"You saw first hand why it is that I don't like my parents, didn't you?" Tristan finished his sentence for him.

"I thought you liked your mom." He obviously had no interest in directly talking about what happened over the weekend.

"Most of the time I do but she has no backbone when it comes to my father and while I love her it's really frustrating." Carter nodded in understanding. In the two and a half years they had been friends he had never met Tristan's parents. They'd been in England, that was true, but either they never told Tristan they were coming or forced to him to go to London and attend society events with them. His grandparents, however, were a different story and everyone always enjoyed a visit from Janlan and Maggie DuGrey. "So what happened with her parents? She's from Boston right?"

"Right." Carter nodded and held back any other information.

"Just say it out loud already. I can tell you haven't seen Ella either since the whole thing happened or you two got back to school. I don't remember where you were meeting her parents but I'm thinking if you're seriously not speaking with her then you met somewhere in London and had an entire awkward trip back to school. Am I right?" Carter looked at his friend wondering how he could know something like this just by looking at him. True, they had been good friends since the minute they met, but Tristan knowing something like that so clearly was a bit scary. "I've been through this before...well, I've known people who have been through this before and even went through something like this over the weekend. Of course it didn't end as badly as it seems to have in your case, but I've gone through it. It's worse when it's your parent's reactions that cause the situation. That much I can assure you of, so talk, okay?" Tristan stared at his friend waiting for the story.

"It started off okay, or at least I thought it started off okay. They seemed to like me. Ella went down for Thanksgiving Thursday afternoon and I came down Saturday morning for the weekend. They were very nice people. It seemed to be enough that I was good to their daughter and all. I don't know what happened though, one minute everything was fine and the next..."

"Was it her father?"

Carter laughed. "Her father? Please. We got along real well, it was her mother."

"Really?" Usually with the society set it was the father who was either intent on making his son's life miserable or be overprotective of his grown daughter who can make her own decisions. Of course, father's usually had a boy handpicked for their daughter's to marry which caused another problem altogether, but rarely was it the mother who cared unless of course the boy wasn't high enough society for her. But it seemed that Ella's mother wasn't big on society and money and would rather her daughter marry someone outside of rich lifestyle.

Carter nodded and thought some more before he said anything else. "Her mother...well...she was nice enough but I just didn't...she wasn't what I expected. Ella always says how much her mother hates high society and hasn't gotten used to be part of it but I didn't really pick that up from this woman. I saw a woman who was slightly reluctant to accept the things that having money would allow her but accepted them and has gotten used to them. She may not want extravagant things like helicopters or personal planes but she's getting there. And I didn't measure up."

"Excuse me?" Tristan had not been expecting this.

"She basically told me I wasn't good enough for her daughter because I didn't have trust funds set up in my name the minute I conceived. The mere idea that I could keep her daughter living in the lifestyle she's become accustomed to by being a mere peon was ridiculous."

"She told you this? Where was Ella?"

"Oh, she told me this, and so much more. Ella was with her father across the room talking to some old family friends. Her father took her away because he knew his wife wanted to say something to me."

"Did he know what she wanted to say?"

He shrugged. "No idea."

"So what happened between you and Ella?"

"Nothing." Carter shrugged again. "I didn't say much the rest of the night but I told her that I was going to have to return to school first thing in the morning, something had come up." He sighed. "She was worried, immediately thinking that her mother said something but of course I denied that suggestion and told her I got a call from some friends from secondary school who needed my help and I needed to be there. I apologized and had her send my apologies to her parents but I left before brunch the next morning."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Have you talked to her since?"

"She tried calling me all day, and once she got back to school she started coming by but I ignored both the calls and the incessant knocking. I needed some time."

"And has time helped?"

"Nope."

"And her father was nice?"

"He seemed to like me though I'm sure he could have been playing good cop and left her mother to be bad cop."

"Wow. I'm sorry."

Carter nodded. "Me too."

"So you're going to let her parents run your life?"

"What?" His head shot up to look at his friend. "What are you talking about?"

"You've been ignoring your girlfriend for almost two days and you haven't even given her an idea of what's actually wrong. Pretty soon explaining and having the whole thing go away is going to become more and more impossible in your mind until it doesn't happen at all and you're even more miserable." Carter said nothing but Tristan knew he was considering his words. "You can't let people like this get to you. They shouldn't control your relationship. Trust me. I confronted Rory's mother this weekend, I know how hard it is and how nervous you are but you can't let them walk all over you or Ella. It's not fair."

"You're a good friend," Carter said after a long pause.

"Thank you." Tristan smiled at his friend. "I hope I helped." He tried his best to hold in his yawn but didn't know how successful he really was.

"You did. Now go get some sleep because you're obviously jet lagged and have class and I'm sure Rory will be running in here at any minute to drive you crazy while she worries about catching up." Tristan laughed knowing that Carter was right about that.

"Thanks man, I'll talk to you later. Think about talking to Ella though, okay? And sooner then later."

"I will." With a final nod Tristan headed into his room, closing the door behind him and dropping onto his bed without even thinking about setting an alarm.

**GGGGGGGGG **

"You're ridiculous, you know that?" Tyler asked as wrapped an arm around Rory's shoulder.

"Don't hate," Rory said as she leaned into him. She had only made it to the doorway of her third class before Tyler decided to escort her out. In four hours she had consumed almost a dozen large cups of coffee and nothing had woken her up.

Tyler laughed. "I would have never pictured you for one of those Americans."

"What are you talking about?" In her half awake state Rory was unable to follow more than the basic conversation, her notes during today's classes were nothing but mere scribbles and she definitely didn't understand what Tyler was pointing out.

"The slang you just used, it was very unlike you."

Rory nodded in understanding. "Yeah, well, anything can happen I guess." She opened her eyes up a little wider and was instantly confused. "Where are we going?"

"You don't recognize it?" The shock evident in his voice as she shook her head.

"Right, well this door here, it leads to the room of your boyfriend who from what I heard is currently passed out in his own bed like you should be. I thought you'd appreciate sleeping with him rather then alone."

"Such a good friend." Rory smiled at him.

"Thanks. We all know you guys spend every night together, why mess things up because the sun is out?"

"No idea. Then again, the sun usually messes everything up, just ask Finn."

Tyler laughed. "Next time I see him I'll make sure to ask." Rory nodded. "Okay, here we are." He was going to knock on the door but Rory simply opened it herself.

"Tyler?" Carter was sitting on the couch, obviously thinking about something important, but was drawn out of his thoughts when the door opened. "Rory? Are you okay?"

"She's fine. You might actually think she's on a caffeine withdrawal but in reality she's had a dozen huge cups and can't stay awake, we figured she should sleep it off. Is Tristan still in there?" Tyler nodded in the direction of Tristan's closed bedroom door.

"Yeah, he's been sleeping for an hour or two. Do you need any help?" He moved to get off the couch.

"No, it's okay. She's moving on her own, just exhausted. I wonder what Tristan's family did to her. Did you hear they're exclusive now?"

"What? He didn't mention that!"

Tyler laughed. "Rory let it 'slip' this morning to Eli, Addison and Lucy. They wanted to pump her for information but as you can see she's not good for much of anything." Without warning Rory broke herself away from Tyler and moved towards Tristan's door.

"Thanks for bringing me here Tyler. I promise, both you and Carter, you can all have the sordid details of me kissing Tristan in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner and us deciding to officially date once we are both back in this time zone. Good night." With that she opened and closed the door to Tristan's room. Moving to sit on the side of the bed he wasn't occupying Rory slid off her coat and shoes, throwing them on his bedroom floor before getting under the warm covers and moving closer to the warmth his body was radiating.

"Mary?" Tristan's voice, husky with sleep, questioned as he felt the bed shift under another person's weight and then smelled her soap.

"Is there another girl that would be climbing into your bed in the middle of the day?" Rory teased in her sleepy voice.

"Not that I know of. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Couldn't stay awake," she told him. "Tyler brought me here. He wouldn't even let me go into my last class. Can we stop asking questions now and talk after we nap? If not I'll just go to my own bed."

"No, don't go." Tristan wrapped an arm possessively around her waist and pulled her closer to his body. With a kiss to the top of her head, Tristan smiled as he heard her breathing begin to even out as she let herself fall asleep. "Night baby."

"Good night Tristan," Rory mumbled as she fell asleep in his arms despite it being the middle of the day.

**GGGGGG**

"So she didn't mention anything to you?" Lucy asked Ella as they sat around the table in the university cafeteria. It wasn't often that both sides of Addison's "world" joined together, but ever since Rory had befriended his friends from The States it was happening more often.

"When did I see her for her to mention anything?" Ella asked with frown. She had vaguely heard Rory and Tristan come home in the middle of the night last night but she had been sleeping so poorly since her "fight" with Carter that she hadn't thought about calling out a greeting and they had both been gone by the time she got up for class this morning. Ella tried to sneak a glance at Carter, wondering if he had even seen Tristan this morning, but being that they hadn't said anything since his hasty retreat from their hotel room Sunday morning she wasn't going to mention it.

"And have you seen your roommate?" Jasper asked.

"I did," Carter confirmed, his voice quieter and his demeanor certainly more reserved then it normally was. He was obviously holding something back but no one was going to bug him about it--they were much more concerned with the latest "group gossip". "But he was exhausted, apparently there was bad weather that delayed their landing for a while in addition to the jet lag and the actual stress of spending the holiday with his family that they were exhausted."

"I brought Rory to their room early this afternoon, she could barely stand and that was after a dozen large cups of coffee."

"What did she say?" Marcy looked at Lucy and Eli wanting the details again.

Addison and Eli shook their heads; no matter how many times they told the girls every word that passed between them and Rory this morning not that there were all that many words before the instructor started the girls wanted to hear it again. Apparently they were under the impression that they more times they heard what was said the easier it would be for them to understand what actually happened over the long weekend. It was certainly a big insight to how the female mind worked--they overanalyzed like crazy.

"She was tired, Eli implied that she and Tristan had been up late participating in some extra-curricular activities. Rory answered by saying that just because they are officially together doesn't mean that they're at it like rabbits. Then that stupid instructor began talking about Mary Queen of Scots. Seriously! They always know when to interrupt a good conversation!" The girls all mumbled in agreement and Tyler was almost scared to speak up for the fear of who would jump at him for taking too long to tell them his news.

"Actually, she did say something to me..."

"What?" The girls all shot their heads in his direction, hanging on his every word.

"Oh, yeah, she did, didn't she?" Carter said with a smile, remembering Rory's comment when Tyler brought her back to their room.

He laughed. "Yeah she did."

"Tell us already!" Jackie complained, only making the two guys laugh harder.

Marcy gave Eli a pointed look and he sighed. "Just tell them already guys, you see that they can't wait any longer.

"You are so whipped!" Tyler commented, ignoring the glare and slap on the back on the head that Eli gave him before deciding to continue. "Our lovely Miss Gilmore told Carter and me that she would give us the sordid details of her kissing Tristan in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner and how they decided to officially start dating. Though I'm betting that second part has a lot to do with Tristan convincing her it was okay."

"That sounds about right, but she kissed him? I find that hard to believe," Katie said.

"Oh really? Why is that?" Rory's voice came from behind them and they all shot each other a look before looking at their friends.

"What are you talking about?" Katie said, trying to play like she was lost in the midst of the conversation.

Rory laughed. "Whatever. What are you all doing here, together, in one spot?" She knew that they had nothing against each other but rarely did the group of 15 hang out together. "Are you really all that interested in mine and Tristan's love life?"

"Could you believe that we worried about the health of each of you?" Ella asked, looking at her roommate pointedly.

"Nope." They all laughed at her quick and serious answer. She and Tristan sat down ignoring the questioning looks of their friends and held back their laughter. Their friends were obviously dying for details of the weekend but were being uncharacteristically shy and not asking. "What's wrong with you, all of you?" Rory asked them skeptically.

"Whatever do you mean?" Addison asked with a grin.

"Shove it Addy, just ask already."

"Fine! I'll do it! You said you'd tell us how the whole exclusivity thing came about and we want to know! We're dying from the tidbits and speculation! You kissed him in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner? That's not very like you--"

"You don't know Mary very well, do you?" Tristan asked, a smirk on his face, while Rory smacked him without even looking in his direction. "What was that for?" He asked, rubbing the spot on his arm that she hit.

"You know what that was for Mr. I have a self-righteous smirk on my face!"

"How do you know what kind of look I have on my face? You're not even looking at me!" Tristan argued.

Rory turned her head to look at him, an "angelic" smile on her face. "I needed to look at you to know that smirk was there? You underestimate me DuGrey, though that's really nothing new because you always underestimated me."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who said I hate you."

"Excuse me? You said you hated him?" Belle interrupted. "I don't know if I can believe that you ever hated Tristan."

"Excuse you, I told you what that was about," Rory shot Tristan a glare before turning back to her roommate and the rest of their friends. "Yes, at one point I said I hated Tristan but that was back when we 16 years old and he was a cocky, rich boy. We're both very different, it's amazing what military school can do to a person."

"We all can't go through a life altering change by stealing a yacht Mary."

Rory glared at him. "I stole said yacht with the college version of your high school self and it didn't change anything about him. Hell, my 500 hours of community service didn't change anything about him. His daddy got him out of a sticky situation and left me to deal with the fallout."

"Couldn't your family do anything? I mean, you're a Gilmore," Marcy pointed out.

"And a Hayden," Tyler added.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Hayden's dislike me, they always have; I ruined their only son's chance at becoming something special. He never lived up to his potential because he got my mother pregnant and she decided to keep me. And my other grandparents tried to help but the judge was a bitch. Anyway, why are we talking about this?" Rory had no interest in talking about the year or so leading up to her departure from America to England.

"We're talking about this because you said that you told Tristan you hated him when you were in high school."

"I'll have you know that I never told Tristan I hated him," Rory said indignantly.

"That's right, you told Bag Boy."

"Exactly! And you just happened to overhear!"

"Can I help it that I wanted to be around you. Never before I had purchased concert tickets to an artist I didn't even know to impress a girl. Do you know what I had to do to get those tickets?"

"No. And I don't want to know," Rory told him before he got a chance to retort.

"Who's Bag Boy?" Carter asked.

"Mary's boyfriend from her home town. He stocked shelves in the town market, hence the name."

"Tell me that's not..."

"Addison! You're ridiculous!" Rory shook her head at him. "His name was Dean. Tristan never liked him because I did."

"You know Mary, you refused to date me because I was such a bad boy but have you ever stopped to think that I'm the only boyfriend you've had where nothing illegal has happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Abby asked.

"Well, with Bag Boy you stole something from Doosey's. With Jess you got into a car accident and missed your mom's graduation and with Logan you stole a boat."

"Getting into a car accident and missing a graduation ceremony isn't illegal," Carter pointed out.

"Not the point here," Tristan told him.

Rory laughed. "Well I guess you have a point there..."

"Wait, perfect Rory Gilmore shoplifted?" Lucy questioned, completely surprised by that news.

"Hello, she stole a boat last year, shoplifting is nothing."

"You have a big mouth," Rory told Tristan in a softer voice. "I can't believe you."

"Oh come on Mary, we're all friends...besides you were joking around five minutes ago."

"That was before we started picking apart my faults and reminding me how perfect I really was."

"No one can wear a halo forever," he told her.

"So not the point Tristan."

"Just because your mother put these unbelievable expectations on you that you followed without a problem until you got to college and started to discover who you were without your crazy mother by your side does not mean you're a horrible person. You couldn't be your mother's 'mini-me' forever."

"Do you really want to have our first real fight four days after we got together and in front of all of our friends?" Rory asked, dead serious.

"Are you really going to fight with me about this?" Tristan knew that this definitely wasn't a good time or place to have this conversation. The Rory he had known all those years ago and fallen in love with was finally starting to become part of the Rory he met a few months ago and fallen in love with again and by starting this argument he was sure to loose that old Rory that was coming through--he couldn't help it though--this wasn't a topic he was willing to drop so easily.

"No, you're right, I'm not." Rory could see that Tristan was visibly relieved that she wasn't going to argue with him. She also saw the surprise cross his face when she pushed her chair back from the table. "If you all will excuse me I have a lot of work to catch up on and I slept the day a way. I'll see you all later." Without looking back at any of them or waiting for an answer Rory left the pub leaving her friends behind.

"What the hell happened?" Ella asked as they watched Rory's retreating form.

"Don't worry about it, I'll work it out with her later, everything will be just fine." Tristan left it at that and picked up his beer, needing something cool to calm his nerves with.

**GGGGGGGGGG **

_December 1, 2005_

_Dear Mom, _

_It's been a while since I've taken the time to write to you but since right now I could use your advice more than anything. Since I can't pick up that phone, this letter will have to do. I just got back from Thanksgiving in Hartford with Tristan and his family. I'm surprised, and happy, to report that it was actually a really good weekend. Besides his absurd father Tristan's family is pretty great. His mother has no backbone but really good intentions and does love her children even if she can't show it properly she also favors Tristan but that is the curse of the oldest I think. And it turns out he has siblings--a younger brother and sister, they're four and five years younger than him but the three of them are really close, it's sweet actually. And his grandparents are the sweetest people I've met. The perfect older couple--you would actually enjoy spending time with them despite the fact that they know Grandma and Grandpa. _

_I also saw Dad this weekend. It was nice being so close to home and getting to see at least one of my parents. I know Tristan was in Star's Hollow--Luke's breakfast was amazing, thank him for me, and tell him I love that he gave into sending Tristan home with ground coffee for me. And I also know that Tristan spoke with you...that you two had words. I'm sorry if what he said hurt your feelings, but you have hurt my feelings as I know I've hurt yours and he was only looking out for me. He cares about me, he may even love me, and hates to see me in the pain that I'm in. And I_ am_ in pain Mom. But he told Dad about his conversation with you and while they didn't speak loud enough for me to get the details I know that Dad was impressed. He may have been absent when I was growing up, but he sure is trying now Mom. He really is. _

_I even got to see the Yale kids--Colin, Finn and Steph--for dinner Sunday night. I enjoyed that conversation as well. It was nice to feel like an old part of myself was coming back. The more I grow into who I've become and accept the mistakes I've made the better I feel. I'm trying to correct those mistakes mom. It started with the community service and now I'm trying to recreate myself into someone everyone can be proud of in England...I only wish you could tell me what you thought thus far. _

_The real point of this letter though, is for your advice. I will never be too old for your advice and I will most likely always listen to said advice. There will be times when we disagree of course, but that's what happens when I truly become my own person. You can't blame me for that. But back to my previous point. I had a "fight" with Tristan. I use quotes because it wasn't a true fight but it was getting close. I walked away before it could escalate. We were having a good time, joking with our friends, talking about when we were in high school and he just pushed me a little too far. Then he started talking about how I may have been your "mini-me" but I finally grew up and had my own opinions and my own mind and did things you didn't approve of so that's the straw that broke the camel's back so they say. I stopped taking everything you said and did as gospel, started being an independent person and realized that you had incredibly high expectations for me. Expectations that ever since that one night with Dean I could no longer live up to. And while I'm sure it wasn't intentional, it wasn't fair to me, But when I didn't live up to those expectations it caused a rift between us. _

_I was having such a good time tonight with all of our friends that I didn't want to argue, I didn't want to think about our rift, the one between you and me, but he brought it up. It was too much and I left. I know he'll come after me tonight, give me some time to cool down, but I do wish you could tell me what you think. I wish you could tell me that you love me despite my problems; despite the fact that I didn't live up to everything you wanted from me. And I seriously hope one day you can tell me that. It's what I need more than anything in order to heal. _

_I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving Mom. It wasn't the same for me without four dinners and pie, rolls, and coffee from Luke's at the end of the night. I miss you...a lot. I love you Mom. _

_--Rory _


	22. Tis The Season

**Chapter 22: 'Tis The Season**

**  
**"I can't tell you how happy I am that this semester is over," Belle announced as she and Rory walked towards their Tuesday afternoon English final.

"I agree." Her nose had been stuck in books for the past two weeks and while Rory loved to study, sometimes finals became too much.

"But you love school." Belle smiled at her friend, letting her know that she was teasing.

"Yeah, I love school, but even someone who loves books can get too much of them. Studying for finals always gets to me. In high school I wanted to do well because I wanted to go to Harvard. At Yale I did well because not only was it expected of me, but I was at Yale and I had to prove that I belonged there. Not to mention that I wanted a good GPA so I could get a good job at a newspaper when I graduated."

"And now?" Belle prodded. It wasn't typical Rory to talk about life and goals and stresses going on around her, so everyone always tried to get her to talk whenever she would; Belle only hoped she wasn't being too obvious about it.

"Well now I'm at Oxford and I really have something to prove, if to no one else then myself!"

"I can understand that. I want to prove to everyone that I can do it too."

"It's a hard life we live, isn't it?" They both laughed.

"But things are good with you and Tristan now?" After the "argument" at the pub a couple of weeks ago everyone had been worried about their relationship. No one thought they would break up over any of this, but they were still concerned.

"We're good. We haven't really had a chance to spend time together recently with all the studying going on, but we're fine. You guys are all really worried aren't you?" Rory thought it was really sweet the way the entire group was invested in her relationship with Tristan. Everyone wanted them both to be happy.

"We just want you both to be happy. We've known Tristan for a long time and he's never been happier then these past couple of months with you. And you seem to be getting better yourself. Not that any of us knew what you were like back in the day, but you're so different from the person you were when you got here that we would hate for you to get in a fight and revert back to your original ways."

"Well thank you for your concern, it's sweet, really."

"We're your friends, we're here any time you need us."

Rory smiled at Belle, who was certainly one of the sweetest girls she's ever met. "I hope you know the same goes for me. Any time you need a person to listen to you, I'm here."

"I do know that Rory…everyone does, but thanks for saying it out loud." They got to the room assigned for their final and took a breath. "Good luck."

"Thanks, you too." They headed through the door, each happy that the last day of hell, for them at least, was tomorrow.

**GGGGGGG**

"What are your plans for tonight?" Ella asked Rory as she gathered books in her room with intentions on studying in the library.

"Nothing," Rory answered with a happy smile.

"Excuse me?" Ella stuck her head out of her bedroom and saw her roommate relaxing on the couch looking as if she had not a care in the world. "Don't you have your last final tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I do. I'm not worried."

"You're not? You're the one that worries about everything."

Rory nodded. "I know. Addison, Eli and Lucy are coming over tonight and we're going to study but we're not worried."

"You're least worried about your British history final?" That completely surprised Ella. Out of all the finals they were taking, all the British centered courses scared her.

"Yup." Rory closed her eyes. "You have quite a few finals left don't you?"

"One tomorrow, two the day after that and then the final one three days from now."

"Good luck."

"Thanks. I'm off to the library now."

Rory heard Ella moving around and decided that there was no time like the present to approach her friend. "Ella, a quick question before you go?"

Ella had just about made it to the door when Rory's voice stopped her. Turning around and trying to keep a smile on her face although she knew what the question was actually going to be, Ella answered her roommate. "What's up?"

She opened her eyes and looked at the other girl, trying to decide if she should really say something or not. Slightly against her better judgment Rory decided to go for it. "Are you alright? Ever since I came back from Thanksgiving you've been a little off. I know I'm a tad messed up but I can still listen and give pretty good advice you know."

"Thanks." Ella offered her a small smile. "I have a question for you." Rory nodded and waited for her to continue. "You said that your mother didn't approve of your last boyfriend, Logan I think his name was. And you seem to think she won't like Tristan either. Why is that? And how do you deal with the fact that she disapproves of someone you so obviously love. Shouldn't she just want you to be happy?"

Rory sighed. She knew that asking her question would lead to counter questions like this and although she tried to prepare herself, apparently had not worked. But for the well being of her friend she decided to push down all her feelings about the topic and answer as truthfully as possible. "My mother didn't approve of Logan. She was 16 when she had me and when she was 17, she made the decision to leave my grandparents house, more specifically their rich, privileged lifestyle, and raise me differently. She didn't want me sucked in. And it worked...until I went to Chilton and became surrounded by the very people she wanted to get me away from. From the beginning my grandparents were loaning her the money so I could go to Chilton and it got both of us more involved in their lifestyle. My mother began to see that I could fit into both the world I grew up in and loved and the world that she walked away from. I was so much like her but I was so different at the same time--she never really thought about that kind of situation while I was growing up and didn't particularly like it. I was her best friend, we grew up together, and that meant that we should be aligned in the matter of high society. And now I was proving her wrong. It was also a shock when I decided to go to my Grandfather's alma mater instead of the lifelong dream we had of me going to Harvard."

"She didn't approve of Yale?"

"She didn't really approve of anything that my grandparents approved of. They never agreed on anything, they still don't. The final straw was my dropping out of college and them supporting me. Part of it also has to do with the guilt she carries for disappointing them and "ruining" their lives by getting pregnant at 16. Mom would never admit it, but I know. She wishes she could have done right by them and gone to Yale like she had told Grandpa she was going to do when she was a little girl, but things certainly don't always turn out as you plan them. Not only did I decide upon Yale, but at the end of my first year I disappointed her personally. Once that happened and I ran away to spend the summer in Europe with my grandmother, well that was a blow as well. It was the first big argument in my house…ever. My mom and I were so alike we never argued, which seems crazy if you think about it but that's what happens sometimes."

"What did you argue about?" By the look on Rory's face Ella instantly regretted asking.

"A personal matter that she didn't agree with my choice on." Rory shook her head, getting the incident with Dean away from her thoughts. "When I went back to Yale, I really just fell into a different crowd. Between the society events my grandmother wanted me to attend and the different people I was meeting I was being moved slightly more in the direction of high society and mom definitely didn't know what to do about that. She disliked Logan because of his reputation, because of his social status, because of his parents, because of his careless attitude. Logan has had his life planned out for him since the minute he was conceived and he has no problems fucking around until that plan must come into action. He could fail all his classes and still be next in line at Huntzberger Publishing. He'll take it over no matter what and his father will always bail him out because he would never want his heir to look bad in the papers. And anyone who publishes a negative story about Logan gets a verbal bashing from Mitchum as well. That doesn't mean Mitchum doesn't verbally bash Logan, but having his son's name dragged through the papers and giving the family a bad imagine is unacceptable."

"Wow."

"Yeah. He leads a tough life. Mom never saw that. She only ever saw that she didn't like her life when she was younger and found a way out but forgot that not everyone can do that. Not everyone can give up the lifestyle they've grown accustomed to without a reason. Logan also took over for her as the instigator of all things fun and dangerous. My mom used to be the only one to get me to break out of my comfort zone but now I had someone new to do that. She didn't like it. She wrote Logan off before she even met him, which is strange because she had given Jess a chance and she really hated Jess. Said he was very James Dean _Rebel without a Cause_." Rory smiled at the memory. "And why am I afraid she'll hate Tristan? Besides Tristan's confrontation with her this weekend, I don't think she'll give him a fair chance. She didn't give Logan one and he and Tristan are so similar I could see her writing Tristan off as another Logan and that's really not fair. I didn't like Tristan when we were 16 but we're 21 now, things change in five years. I've changed, that's for sure, and I know he has but I don't know if my mom will give him a chance to prove that to her."

"Wow. I don't know that I was expecting all of that."

"And you wonder why I was so messed up when I came here."

"You're not messed up Rory."

"Yes I am." She closed her eyes again and leaned back against the couch. "Talk to me about Thanksgiving. What happened?"

"My parents were here."

"Oh."

"Yeah, that sums it up."

"I'm sorry. I understand."

"I know you do."

"What did they do?" Rory opened her eyes and turned her head to study her roommate for a moment.

"Everything was fine Saturday during the day. Carter met up with us and my parents seemed to like him; particularly my father which I found interesting considering he's never really liked any of the guys I've dated before but I wasn't going to object. I was happy that he liked Carter, they seemed to have things in common and it didn't bother my dad that he didn't come from money. Of course while I would expect him to have a problem with someone who couldn't necessarily keep me in the lifestyle I've become accustomed to, I also wouldn't expect that because he married my mother, who didn't come from money. Of course she 'married up' while I would be marrying 'down'—not that Carter and I have talked about marriage, mind you, but you know what I'm saying." Rory nodded in agreement. "So everything seemed okay. My parents were dragging us to some society event in London Saturday night where my father took me off to meet one of his British associates, which left Carter with my mother—something I didn't think would be a bad thing."

"But you were wrong?" Rory questioned.

"Apparently so. The rest of the night he was extremely closed off and then made up some crazy excuses Sunday morning about having to go help some friends from secondary school or something. My father seemed concerned that he wasn't at brunch while my mom wore some sort of a smirk. I tried asking her why she seemed so pleased with herself but she didn't answer."

"What happened when you got back to school?"

"Well I tried to talk to him, I really did. I called constantly, both his cell phone and their landline, but he wouldn't pick up. I tried showing up after his classes, random times at his room and pounding on the door but he never answered. He didn't want to talk…he _doesn't_ want to talk. I finally gave up and decided that he would just have to come to me. I can't force him to tell me what happened…"

"I know it hurts but you're doing the right thing. Eventually he'll say something or you'll move on. You're still staying here for next term, right?" Ella nodded. 'So you'll stay for next term, you won't let him think you're scared to face the situation, show him you're around no matter what your mother said to him. You just have to let things happen."

"I don't know if I'm staying in England for the holidays."

"Why not?" Rory had invited her to spend the time in London and stay in her apartment over break and Ella had yet to make up her mind.

"I think I should go to Boston, spend the holidays with my family and see some of my old friends. It'll be good for me. I need to work out this Carter stuff on my own. Maybe the time apart will be good for us."

Rory was going to point out that even if Ella stayed in London during their break she wouldn't be running into Carter everywhere because he was going to be home with his family. Of course he didn't live far from London, but that didn't mean the girls would be seeing him everywhere. "If you feel that's for the best…but you have a place to stay with me if you want."

"Thanks for the offer," Ella came up with a forced smile, "but I'm sure you'll enjoy the quality time with Tristan without the interruption of school and everyone else."

"I do enjoy alone time with Tristan, but that doesn't mean you aren't welcome." Rory smiled at her friend.

"Thanks." She looked down at her watch and cursed, "shit! I'm going to be late for my study group. Thanks for listening to me Rory."

"Anytime Ella, seriously." Rory made sure to look at her roommate as she said this.

"I'll see you later, good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks, you too." This time when Ella got to the door Rory didn't stop her, but she was met by the smiling faces of Addison, Eli and Lucy. "Have a good time tonight you guys."

"Thanks Ella," Lucy said with a smile. "You headed to the library to study?" Ella nodded. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

"Is she okay?" Eli asked as they walked into the dorm room and closed the door.

"She will be, things with Carter are rough right now."

"I noticed that," Addison said. "What happened?"

"Something about her mother saying something to him, I'll have to press Tristan for details later." Rory opened her eyes and grinned at her friends. "So what did you bring?"

They laughed at her grinning face and starting showing her the goodies they brought for their study session/movie night awaiting her approval.

**GGGGGGG**

"I'm so glad that you're finished!" Rory exclaimed as she hugged Tristan. He had his last final this morning and Rory had made sure to show up halfway through with plenty of coffee and a book to read while waiting for him. He had come out of the room looking slightly worried but relieved that the term was over, that was until he saw Rory sitting there with an amused smile on her face. He hadn't expected her there. They hadn't seen each other in a few days because she was busying studying, as was he, and they tended to distract each other too much to study together. Well it was more like Rory finished her finals before Tristan and he would be completely distracted with her in the room, no matter what she was doing. And they hadn't been spending the nights together since their studying patterns were all off and Tristan wondered how she was dealing with that. Of course they had spoken on the phone and she _sounded_ okay, but he wasn't too sure, she had been going through quite a few mood swings lately.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, the first question that came to his mind. Tristan cringed as he realized how what he said sounded.

"Can't a girl surprise her boyfriend who she hasn't seen in days?"

"She can. And her boyfriend would appreciate the surprise even more if his girlfriend would share some of that coffee in her hand."

Rory looked at him in shock. "Me? Share my coffee?" Tristan stuck out his lower lip and Rory laughed. "You realize it doesn't have quite the effect on me as I have on you, right?" He nodded. "Good. Tell you what, you can finish this one and we'll stop on the way and get two fresh, hot cups."

"Stop on the way to where?" Tristan asked as he gulped down the coffee Rory handed him and allowed her to lead him away.

"To the pub, we're meeting everyone for a farewell drink."

"Farewell drink?" Tristan asked, completely surprised by the gathering having heard nothing about it.

"Yeah, Addison, Eli and I planned it. Since everyone finished finals today we decided that as people finish they should come to the pub and start drinking in celebration. The Americans are all leaving tomorrow."

"Really? Who?" He asked, pushing Rory's hand away as she tried to pay for the coffee, handing the money over instead. Rory glared at him. "You've been spending a lot of time with Addison and Eli, haven't you?" Not that he minded, Tristan was happy she was coming out of her shell a little bit more each day, he was just surprised at who she chose to be friends with.

"They remind me of my friends from back home," Rory said with a shrug. "Ella, Lucy and Marcy are leaving tomorrow afternoon. Eli, Addison, Jackie and Benji are leaving Saturday afternoon. The others are all going home sometime between tomorrow and Sunday. Speaking of leaving, when do you want to head to London? I'll call Toby and let him know."

"Whenever you'd like," Tristan said with indifference; he was just looking forward to some quality time with his girlfriend, it didn't matter where.

Rory smiled up at him. "Then I'm going for Saturday afternoon. Oh, my cousin Chloe called me the other day."

"Really? What did she say?"

"She and cousin Alistair want us to come back up to the house over break, for the holidays more specifically. And Great Aunt Sophie emailed and said we should also set up a time to come to the vineyard. So we can do that over break as well, cause I think London might get a tad dull after a while."

"London? Dull?" Now that the stress of finals was over it felt to Tristan as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"It's hard to believe, I know, but it's just an idea." Rory returned his playfulness with his own, smiling in thanks as he opened the door to the pub for her.

"Well, if you'd like to spend the holidays with your cousins I have no problem with that. Alistair and Chloe's house is amazing and they have so much property. We could go riding too." At the hesitant look in Rory's face he stared at her. "Why are you looking at me like that? Do you not like to ride?"

"Hey Tris, how was the last final?" Tim asked as the couple sat down at the table. So far it was Addison, Eli, Lucy, Tim, Belle and Katie sitting around the tables that held enough seats for everyone.

"Glad that it's over," he told them before looking at Rory and waiting for her response.

"It's not that I don't like them per se, it's just that it's better for the health of the horse for me to stay away."

"What are you talking about?" Katie asked having heard Rory's answer.

"We're going to visit Mary's cousins in the country and she was just about to tell me why she won't go riding for the sake of the horse."

"Well you see…" Rory stared, blushing as everyone was now paying attention to her, "my mom decided one year that I should go for a pony ride. I'd never been before and she wanted me to have the experience."

"Where did you go?" Katie asked as if she actually knew Connecticut.

"I don't remember, no where too far though."

"I'm waiting for this explanation," Tristan said with a hint of impatience in his voice.

Rory glared at him playfully before continuing. "So mom takes me for this pony ride and everything seems to be going fine. I was having a good time, I wasn't worried about anything, the pony was really sweet."

"But…" Tim prodded for her to get to the heart of the story.

"Well as my mom tells it the pony was old and just sort of stopped and laid down and I rolled into a ditch." Everyone at the table broke into laughter. They could imagine a young Rory on her first pony ride and then falling over into a ditch when the pony laid down—she wasn't always the most graceful of people.

"Wait a minute, you said the way your mom tells it," Lucy said slowly as she stopped laughing and really processed Rory's words. "Does that mean you have something different to say?"

"Well there are always two sides to every story," Rory answered. "And since mom was watching from a distance and I was the one on the pony I dare say that we have different stories to tell."

"Obviously," Tristan answered, clearly mocking her.

She slapped him on the arm before continuing. "The pony did not _lie down_, it **died**. The owner dragged it away by its hind legs right in front of me. I was traumatized."

"What if I promise the horse won't die while you're on it?"

"You can't promise that! Besides, if something happened _after _I rode the horse then I'd really feel bad."

"You're too emotional," Eli observed. "Just go riding, you'll enjoy it. Especially if your cousins have a lot of property."

"They do," Tristan told him.

"Then convince her to," Eli said firmly with a nod of her head.

"Don't worry, I will. I'll even take pictures for everyone." They all cheered and raised their glasses to Tristan while Rory just glared. "Lighten up Mary, it's almost Christmas!"

If there was anything that Tristan could have said at that exact moment that would have caused Rory's smile to drop; that was it. As excited as she was for Christmas and as much celebrating as she really wanted to do, it wasn't the same without her mom. It just wasn't the same without hanging their signed stockings, made years ago, on the nails on the banister or decorating cookies they bought from Weston's and saying they baked them themselves. Nothing was the same without her mother there, it wasn't like Rory could carry the traditions on by herself, especially not when all her special Christmas items packed away in boxes in Stars Hollow.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Abby greeted them with a smile on her face and a drink in her hand.

The greetings were exchanged and the topic moved to when everyone was returning to their respective homes and what their plans were for the holidays. Conversation continued and by 5pm almost everyone had shown up except for Carter and Ella. "You don't think they actually decided to talk to each other, do you?" Katie asked the table at large.

"I don't know, I talked to Ella about it yesterday and it seemed doubtful," Belle said.

"Carter hasn't come out of his funk yet, I can't tell what's going on. I feel sorry for his parents though, and his siblings, he's never been like this before."

"Why hasn't he said anything to her?" Rory asked Tristan, having had no chance to talk to him about this particular topic since her talk with Ella earlier that week.

Tristan shrugged. "He can't make a decision about anything. He never thought about the differences between his life and the life that Ella left in Boston. Her mother apparently pointed that out, in not such a nice way either so…"

"Right. So she tried to talk to him, he won't answer and if he's not careful when he's finally ready she's not going to listen and that'll be that."

"What are you saying?" It wasn't as though Tristan hadn't thought the same thing but since Rory was so much closer to Ella her word meant something different.

"Just that she can't wait around forever. She'll never survive school if she doesn't move on. You can't wait forever Tristan, you just can't."

"I know. I've tried telling him that but he's not really in the mood to listen. Maybe someone at home can talk some sense into him."

"I hope so." They sat around the pub for a couple more hours, eating dinner there before deciding it was time to pick another location. They did a small bar crawl and didn't go back to their rooms until they were forced to which was about 3am.

"Your room or mine?" Tristan asked Rory, his mouth directly over her ear so she could hear him over their friends.

"Wherever," Rory said carelessly. She wasn't quite sloshed but she wasn't quite tipsy either. Truthfully she didn't care where they slept as long as there was a bed and Tristan was sharing it with her. Surprisingly the last couple of nights that she had slept alone she had gotten _some_ sleep. Of course that sleep only came after she settled herself on the couch with a dozen movies and fell asleep somewhere in the middle of the tenth, making it very late at night [or very early in the morning depending on how you looked at it before she fell asleep. She got three or four hours at most a night and was thankful that Tristan at least spent nights before her finals with her.

Rory wasn't that drunk, Tristan knew that, but she had indulged herself quite a bit more this evening then she normally would. Once again he wondered if she had slept at all these past few nights and made a mental note to ask her—at least he knew she had slept the night before her finals, since he had been in the bed next to her and all.

"You're okay with her?" Jasper asked. He was trashed but still noticed Rory leaning heavily against Tristan.

"Yeah, thanks though, I'm just going to take her to back to my room. She'll be fine."

"Alright, talk to you later then." Jasper and Tim headed off towards their dorm, the others having split up from them long ago as they passed the different dormitories.

"How you doing Mare?" Tristan asked, wanting to see if she was awake at all.

"Fine," she mumbled against his shoulder. "Sleepy. So sleepy."

"I know babe, we're almost there." Tristan unlocked the main door and led her towards the lift, managing to open the front door and get them into his room without any problem. Rory collapsed onto his bed, not caring that she was fully dressed and Tristan laughed. Pulling an extra t-shirt and a pair of boxers out of his drawers Tristan moved back towards Rory and began the process of taking off her clothes and putting on the "pajamas" he had grabbed. As he moved through the actions of getting Rory to bed Tristan took great care not to stare at her body. They hadn't moved to that level yet; he wasn't going to push her, but he wasn't going to put himself through hell by staring—especially since she wasn't coherent. Happy to have finished the job, he moved off the bed to strip down to his own boxers before crawling into the bed and wrapping his arms around Rory.

**GGGGGGGGG**

"What should we do today?" Tristan asked Rory as he finished his bowl of cereal while watching whatever cartoons he found on television.

Rory shrugged. She was finishing her third cup of coffee and just waking up. "Whatever." They had been in London for eight days and tomorrow afternoon were headed to the country to spend Christmas with her cousins, and the many other family members that would be there, and then they were flying to France to see Great Aunt Sophie. And as amusing as London was there were only so many shows Rory wanted to see, they had yet to find a good concert, their Christmas shopping had been finished three days ago and they had spent so much time in the bookstores that Rory knew where all the books she loved were _and_ she knew where all the books she wanted were. "We could go to the National Gallery," she suggested. "Maybe walk up Strand Street or something." She shrugged again.

"Again?" They had spent a couple of afternoons wandering around The National Gallery before wandering around, normally towards Leicester Square—what they laughingly called their home base since no matter where they started out during in the morning at least twice during the day they passed through Leicester Square. There were movie theaters and some shops and restaurants in the square but movies were so expensive they couldn't find a reason to watch anything inside when they could be enjoying other parts of the city. It had also helped that the rain had only been a slightly mist and they could stand to be outside for so long.

"What do you suggest?" Rory asked.

"What about Notting Hill?"

"I thought we were going to save that for a Saturday so we can go to the Portobello Market."

"Oh, yeah. Well we could go to the V&A Museum or The Natural History Museum. Or we can just pick a street and walk around. We don't have to have a plan you know."

"I know. That's probably a good idea, we'll pick a direction and let the city guide us." Tristan laughed at her description.

**GGGGGGG**

"Good afternoon Miss Rory, Mister Tristan," Alfred said as he answered the door.

"Good afternoon Alfred," Rory said with a smile as she and Tristan walked into the foyer of the huge house. "How are you?"

"Just fine miss, how was your trip from the city? Not too bad I hope."

"It was lovely, thank you," Rory said while she shared a smile with Tristan. Being that they had no worries about school and they were content not to have to talk to each other every second of the day, they had spent much of the car ride over making out in the backseat.

"I'll have your bags brought to your room miss."

"Thanks. Where are Alistair and Chloe?" She asked, looking around anxiously for her cousins.

"They're in the kitchen I believe, something about Chloe wanting to cook." Alfred shuddered slightly and they both laughed.

"Then I think we'll head that way." Rory took Tristan's hand in hers and led the way into the house, a house that neither of them really knew their way around, hoping that the further inside they got the more they would hear her cousins in the kitchen. And she was right.

"Rory!" Alistair's deep voice boomed when he saw them enter the kitchen. "So good you're here!" He came over to the pair and engulfed Rory in a hug. She was slightly surprised being that the British are not known for showing their affection, but then again, her family was anything but "normal" or "typical". "Tristan! Wonderful to see you as well." He shook Tristan's hand vigorously and smiled at him. "Now, can you two please help me convince Chloe that she should leave all the cooking and baking to Marie?"

Rory laughed. "Chloe, what are you trying to do over there?"

Apparently Chloe had been lost in thought as she stood by the counter staring at the cookbook and not heard Alistair's greeting because she turned around in shock at hearing Rory's voice. "Rory! Darling, when did you get here?" The three shared a laugh and Chloe looked at them confused. "What?"

"Nothing Chloe. We just got here, how are you?" Rory asked with a smile.

"Just fine dear. I decided to try cooking."

"Best of luck there. I'm going to stay far away."

"Thank god," Tristan muttered.

"Hi Tristan, you all right?"

"Just fine thanks. How are you Chloe? Thanks for inviting me for the holidays."

She grinned at him. "You're family Tristan, you're always welcome—with or without Rory."

"Thanks Chloe." Everyone laughed but Tristan was still thinking about Chloe's words. She considered him family although he and Rory were just dating, that was interesting. He wondered what Rory thought about it but when he looked over at her she was staring at the cookbook with Chloe. "Mary…" he said in a warning tone, "I thought you weren't going to cook."

Rory turned back to him with a glare on her face. "I'm not going to _cook_, I'm just reading over the recipe to see if I can help Chloe with her problem."

"And what's her problem?" Tristan asked, eyebrows raised, noticing Alistair watching from the counter beside him [Tristan with a smile on her face.

"Well if we knew what the problem was we wouldn't be standing here like this, would we?" Rory asked, the annoyance in her voice laced in a playful way.

"Oh please, women have been cooking since the beginning of time, yet there's something about Gilmore girls where that's just not possible. Chloe, though, I'm surprised, you're a Gilmore by marriage, you should have_ some _culinary instincts."

"I'm offended by this entire conversation," Chloe answered. Tristan only laughed and pushed Rory out of the way while pushing up his sleeves and preparing to help out. "Wait a minute," Chloe stared at Tristan and then Rory, "are you telling me that you're young man can cook?"

"My young man?" Rory managed to say through her laughter.

"There's something wrong with my language?"

"Oh no, not at all." Rory looked at Chloe and then Alistair, unable to hold back her laughter any longer.

**GGGGG**

"Merry Christmas," Tristan mumbled in Rory's ear early in the morning.

"Merry Christmas," Rory mumbled back. "What time is it?"

"Early," Tristan answered.

"Sleep," she answered groggily.

"But it's Christmas morning," Tristan answered.

"And Chloe and Alistair kept us up at their party all evening, making sure we drank more eggnog then ever before. Sleep." She shut her eyes again but knew that Tristan wouldn't let her stay that way for long.

"So you're saying you don't want your present?" He taunted her.

"Present?" Rory answered in a quick voice, though still full with sleep.

"Yes, your present, it is Christmas after all. But if you'd rather sleep…"

"Coffee."

"You don't want your present first?" He should have known the only way to get Rory to do anything was to present her with coffee.

"Coffee." She closed her eyes, refusing to be awake without some coffee, present or no present.

"Yes your ladyship," Tristan answered, obviously making fun of her before pushing himself out of bed to get some coffee for them both so they could celebrate their first Christmas together.

**GGGGGGGG**

"You're hilarious," Tristan remarked as he watched Rory wiggle around in her seat.

"What are you talking about?" Her legs were moving up and down in her seat and she was wringing her hands together but Rory didn't notice.

"Why are you so nervous?"

"I'm not nervous."

"Yes you are. We're sitting here, on the train to your great aunt's vineyard and you're nervous. Why are you nervous?"

Rory smiled at him and shrugged. "My mother always loved her the best…"

"And she loved your mother and I'm sure the more she knows of you the more she'll like you. You have nothing to worry about. It's not like you're meeting some kind of family that you know nothing about. Sophie's windowed and her children are older, aren't they?" Rory nodded. "Good, so relax."

Taking a deep breath Rory concentrated on keeping her legs and her hands still. Without that movement, one of her hands moved to the play with the chain of the necklace Tristan had given her on Christmas. When he noted she stopped bouncing around so much, Tristan looked out of the corner of his eye and smiled watching her play with her new necklace. He had spent a long time thinking about what he wanted to give her, what he thought she would enjoy having and had narrowed it down jewelry and finally decided on a necklace. It wasn't extremely flashy, but it had significance. The necklace was a gold circle encrusted with tiny diamond chips. During one of his sister's sappier moments she said something along the lines of a circle being better than a heart, since a heart can be broken but a circle goes on forever. With that nagging thought in his mind he had purchased the gold circle hoping that she would see the significance. And she did. Her reaction was remarkable.

"Have you spoken with Carter?" Rory asked Tristan, still fingering the necklace he gave her for Christmas but trying to get her mind off of her nerves—nerves that she couldn't even explain to herself.

"No," Tristan shook his head, "I left him a message on Christmas Day, just to wish him and his family a happy holiday, but never heard back. Have you heard from Ella?"

"I talked to her briefly on Christmas. She's having a nice time with her family, she misses England and school and all of us, but she's okay. She's also been trying to find out what her mother said to Carter but her mother's only response was that if 'that boy' would give Ella up over a few words from a concerned mother then he really wasn't worthy of her."

"Wow. Intense."

"Yeah. So Ella and her mother have been in a fight since those words were uttered. Which I think was the third day she was home actually."

"That sucks."

Rory nodded. "I wish they would just get over it already. It's enough."

"I agree. How about anyone else?"

She shook her head. "Not a word. Jasper mentioned something about coming to London for New Years and I'm sure if he does a whole bunch of them will follow."

"What do you want to do for New Years?" Tristan asked. He had been meaning to ask her all week. They were getting back to London New Year's Eve and as of now had no plans.

"I know you probably want to go to some posh club or bar or something like that but I think that's seriously overrated. I mean, I did that last New Year's with the whole Yale crew and while it was nice, I must say I enjoyed all of those New Year's spent with Mom and Sookie in the living room pigging out on junk food and watching movies and then turning on the television in time to properly make fun of Dick Clark and watch the ball drop."

Tristan laughed at her description of the New Year with her mother. "Now tell me how the pigging out and watching movies is different from a movie night?"

"Oh young grasshopper, the New Year's selection of both food and movies surpasses the movie night combo. The only holiday where more food is consumed is usually Thanksgiving. Mom and I excel at Thanksgiving."

"But on December 31st you stay up all night and fall asleep on the couch watching movies, right?"

"Usually," Rory agreed. "Though we much prefer waking up in the middle of the night so we don't have completely stiff necks the next morning."

"And doesn't a typical movie night consist of staying up until all hours watching movies?"

"No," Rory answered immediately. "Movie nights are themed and have an order. We have movie night rules—rules which apply to New Year's as well but we will make some exceptions because of the holiday."

"There's no _theme_ to your New Year's movie?"

"Of course there is…one from every genre. Or sometimes it's one from every decade starting with the 1900s. Those are the most fun."

"Really?"

"Yup." Rory nodded her head.

"Let's do that then." He decided knowing that it would make her happy to keep with some kind of tradition even if he and their friends weren't her mother and Sookie.

"Do what?" Rory looked at him slightly confused.

"Let's have a typical Gilmore girls New Years. We'll get a movie from every decade, starting in the 1900s, pig out on all kinds of food and then turn on the television to watch the ball drop."

"Does the ball drop in London?" Rory asked having never experienced New Year's in a foreign country.

"In Piccadilly Circus," Tristan confirmed. "I mean, there's no Dick Clark to make fun of but I'm sure you'll find someone to mock."

"I always do," she said with a nod.

"Of course."

"And we're inviting the others, I assume?"

"Are you okay with that?" Tristan didn't think she'd truly want to spend the night with just him, but he wouldn't have been opposed to that idea either.

"Well yeah, New Year's is all about having fun and being with friends, right?"

"Among other things. But I do have to add something in to your tradition."

"You want to start a new tradition with me?" Rory thought it was extremely sweet that he was doing this for her _and_ he was so into it.

"Yes. I want to include alcohol. We're all legal and it makes things much more interesting, doesn't it?"

She blushed, thinking about the times she had been drunk in the past month or so. "Yes, yes, it certainly mixes things up a bit." The pilot came on the intercom at the moment, announced their final decent and Rory looked up at him with surprised features. "We're already landing?"

"See, it wasn't that bad, was it?" Tristan smirked at her, earning a slap on the arm. "You're just excited, aren't you?" Finally he realized she wasn't nervous about seeing her great aunt, she was just excited about it. It would be an adventure to share with her mother and she was always looking for that.

"I am." She looked up at him with a grin. "I can't wait to see Aunt Sophie. And her vineyard…we'll have to bring back some wine, but nothing for New Years…this is too special."

"We'll do just that, I promise." Tristan grabbed her hand and held on, a smile on his face, as the train slowed down as it reached the station.

**GGGGGG**

"Rory! Ma belle fille! How are you?" Sophie greeted them in the front of the property a big smile on her face while pulling Rory into a crushing hug.

"Hi Aunt Sophie. I'm good, how are you?"

"Just fine dear, better that you two are here. And how are you doing Tristan?" Sophie turned her attention to the tall blonde chap watching her and her great niece with a smile on his face.

"Fine thanks. You're looking quite lovely this afternoon."

"Oh you charmer!" Sophie blushed slightly and then pulled Tristan into a hug. "I'm so glad you children decided to visit. And just before the New Year. How lucky! Do you have any plans for the holiday? Come on, come inside and relax for a bit. We'll eat something, have a little drink and then you'll tell me how much energy you have. We can go for a walk around the property or explore the town. Rory, dear, I'm sure you'll love this town, it's a quaint little place, probably something right out of one of your books."

Rory smiled at her aunt; she sure did know how to talk fast—it must be a family trait that Sophie got but Emily did not. "I'd love to see the town. Maybe we'll save the tour of the vineyard for tomorrow when we have a bit more energy. Chloe and Alistair kept us busy."

"Oh yes, how are they? How was your stay there?"

"It was lovely although they did have a few too many parties for my taste."

"And mine," Tristan added. "But they're a lot of fun, that's for sure. Nothing at all like the stuffy people my parents always invite to their parties. Maybe they can teach my parents a thing or two."

The women laughed. "Come in, sit down, what can I get you?" They settled into chairs in the peaceful little kitchen and Rory studied her surroundings while her aunt fussed in the kitchen.

"You can cook?" Rory looked over surprised when she saw her aunt doing more than unwrapping some cheese and putting it on a plate for them.

Sophie laughed. "You're a darling child, you know that? I mean, I'm certainly better than my sister in the kitchen but she's been spoiled by society for too long to know better. This was all prepared by Maria, my cook; her husband takes care of the gardens on the estate but they're both gone for the rest of the afternoon and evening, visiting their grandchildren."

Rory nodded in approval. "What have you been up to recently?"

"Oh child," Sophie said with a loud laugh, "where to begin!"


	23. The First Snow

**Chapter 23: The First Snow**

Rory had no idea what woke her from her deep sleep, but after 15 minutes she stopped trying to fight it and got out of bed. Hoping not to wake Tristan up, she moved as quietly as possible into the common room, wondering what she had been dreaming about. Ever since they had returned from Thanksgiving she had been having crazy dreams; dreams that included the residents of Stars Hollow that she missed so much. As she pulled the old, worn in chair in the living room closer to the window, Rory stared blankly, letting her thoughts rule over her. She hadn't told anyone about her dreams. Thus far she had gotten away with not waking Tristan up and having him ask questions and she was grateful for that. Rory still felt that she was leaning on him too much. There comes a time when you just have to grow up, and it was rapidly approaching for her. She'd always been lucky because her mom had been there for and she could complain as much as she need to and always, always had someone to talk to, to listen to, without feeling guilty. She and her mother had a bond that was so unusual there would be no man in either of their lives that could create anything similar. It was one of the reasons she was holding back from Tristan. She depended on him the way she used to depend on her mother and that wasn't fair. Whether or not he was ready for the responsibility of dealing with every ounce of her craziness and insecurities she wasn't really sure. Of course he thought he was, but that didn't mean she believed him. After all, he still thought her too fragile to share his personal life with her. He told her things, of course, but Rory still felt like he held back, especially when it came to his mother or siblings. He didn't want her to get upset because he had them and she didn't have her mom, but he can't protect her from everything forever, she needed him to treat her normally...or at least a little more normal then he was. It was convincing him of this that was the difficult.

And just as she was starting to drift, something in the window caught her eye and made her smile. Finally, FINALLY, she knew why she was awoken in the middle of the night. Thinking about her dream a little more seriously, Rory realized she should have figured it out earlier, but her half awake state stopped her from seeing the obvious. Ashe watched the white specks falling from the sky Rory was glued to the seat. There was an overwhelming urge within her to wake someone up, or even call her mother, but Rory resisted. She simply sat in her chair wondering if the first snow would hold up to its reputation and bring her something good.

As Rory sat there her mind wandered back to Stars Hollow, wondering if it was snowing there right now. She wondered if it was the first snow or if that moment had already passed. Briefly Rory thought about her mother twirling around in the snow completely by herself because Luke would be too stubborn to get out of bed in the freezing cold snow. It snowed every year, he would argue, there's nothing different about this year. Lorelai would argue, of course, telling him that it was the first snow and the first snow was always the best. The best things happened to her on the first snow. Rory took her first steps during the first snow when she was one; she spoke her first words during the first snow when she was two. Those would be her two main examples but Luke would interrupt, wanting her to be quiet so he'd get out of the warm bed and go outside with her. It was the same every year.

Good things had happened to the Gilmore girls during the first snow when Rory was older as well. There were nights with Max, visits with her father, playing with Gigi during her first snow, kissing her boyfriend. It just so happened the kissing your boyfriend during the first snow was a completely different experience then any other kiss. Only good things happened in the snow; only good things. And this year Rory wanted to know what her good thing was. What she wanted, even if she wouldn't truly admit it to herself, what she really wanted was for her mother to call. But considering it was the first snow at school and not necessarily back home, Rory would have to make the call first and she was certainly not ready for that. She wondered if her mother could read her mind across the ocean. Would she already be awake now or still hitting the snooze button? Could she know, by some connection that they had, that it was snowing for the very first time of the season and Rory was watching it. It was one of the most peaceful nights Rory had experienced at school and she had a sudden urge to go out and stand in it.

Without thinking she quietly grabbed a pair of shoes, her keys and a jacket before heading outside. At first Rory was content to simply stand in the slowly falling snow, but then she had to move. Walking slowly around the campus she took in the buildings covered with snow, wishing she had a camera and at the same time wondering how long the snow would stay. How much snow would they get? Would classes be cancelled? Where could they go ice skating? Would they have enough snow to build a snowman? Go sledding? Or they could have a snowman building competition. With the group of friends she had they would certainly like a friendly competition, even if it was just building a snowman. Rory reached into her jacket pocket, thinking that she could call someone, anyone, and tell them about the snow, share a story. But she had forgotten her phone and would have to enjoy the slowly growing winter wonderland herself.

Having had no idea what time it was when she left her room, Rory was shocked to see that dawn had arrived. She immediately began walking to her room hoping that Tristan hadn't woken up to find her missing--she didn't want him worrying.

"You're up early," a voice said from behind her.

"It's snowing," she answered with a shrug; hoping that by acting as uninterested in this guy as possible he would go away.

"Walk of shame?" He asked with a grin.

Obviously he didn't get the hint and now he had insulted her. "Not that it's any of your business, but no."

He nodded. "It's awfully cold out here. You're not really dressed for it." He looked towards her legs that were covered with only her cotton pajama pants and Rory instantly felt dirty.

"I'm okay." Once again she shrugged with indifference. She was numb enough that the cold wasn't bothering her.

"If you're sure, wouldn't want someone as beautiful as you getting sick, now would we?" If he thought his accent was charming her this guy had another thing coming to him. "Oh, how rude of me, I'm Robert." Rory sighed. What was it with boys named Robert being slimy and skeevy? She said nothing hoping that he would just leave her to walk back to her room in peace. "What? No name? You're going to remain a mystery woman? I'm going to be looking for you at the break of every dawn hoping to get your name."

Rory tried to stop herself from rolling her eyes at his words and wondered if she was at all successful. "It was really nice chatting with you but I do have to get home. Have a good day." She tried to beg off quickly, but Robert was just not taking a hint.

"Can I walk you back to your room?" He asked, his grin getting creepier with each moment.

"You could, but then my boyfriend would see that some random guy neither of us knows walked me home and he'd be even more worried then he probably is now and most likely would take all that worry out on you and we wouldn't want that, now would we?" She smiled sweetly at him, hoping mentioning her boyfriend would make a difference to Robert.

"I could take him," Robert said confidently.

Rory shook her head. "Oh look, there he is now!" And she wasn't lying either. They had turned a corner and she found Tristan walking around with Jasper, deep in a discussion that she was hoping wasn't about her.

"Oh really? I could definitely take either of them." Robert sounded awful sure of himself.

"Well if you really feel that way, best of luck, we were separated for a few years while he was off at military school but I'm sure he's forgotten everything he learned there…" She let her voice trail off, having seen his face out of the corner of her eye and noticed how the words military school seemed to freak him out. "Bible Boy! Jasper!" She yelled out to them, hoping they would hear her.

"Rory!" Jasper yelled, a grin crossing his face. "Where have you been?" He was moving closer to her, as was Tristan, although Jasper was wearing a grin while Tristan was scowling at the slimly looking guy standing next to her.

"It's snowing!" She answered with a grin. Now that she was around people she trusted Rory was able to relax and enjoy the first snow once again.

"Yes, it is, so what?"

She laughed. "It's the first snow of the season! It's magical!" Rory twirled around and missed Jasper sending an amused look at Tristan; neither of them had seen her act this way. "Where can we go ice skating? Can we go ice skating?"

"I think there's a rink somewhere…"

"No rink, outside. I want to go ice skating outside," she said firmly. "And don't tell me it's not possible. England is one park after another; there has to be one that has a skating rink opened to the public, even if it is 20 quid to go!"

Jasper laughed. "I'm sure we can find somewhere."

"You don't know of anyplace?" She was shocked. "You've never gone ice skating here?"

"I haven't gone ice skating since…" He stopped to think about it. "…Well I don't know the last time I went. Probably sometime in secondary school."

Rory shook her head. "Poor child. How much snow do you think we're going to get? Cause I was thinking we could all get together and have a snowman building contest. Of course extra points for the best dressed, most stylish, but it would be fun, no?"

By this time Tristan had reached them and was staring Robert down. "Who's your friend Mary?"

"Her name isn't Mary," Robert answered stonily. "And he doesn't look like he's been to any kind of military school," he nodded towards Jasper.

She laughed at him. "I'm not surprised, Jasper's never been to military school, but Tristan here has." Rory turned her attention to her boyfriend and moved closer so she could hug him. "Please make him go away," she mumbled into his ear.

"My pleasure," Tristan answered quietly, hugging her tight before letting go. "So Mary here was telling you about my stint in military school, was she?" He grinned at her before looking back to Robert.

"She was," Robert answered with a nod, not really seeing why he should be so scared of this rich blonde boy.

"She does tend to talk about it a lot, though I'm not really sure why, but I think it has something to do with the mental image of me in uniform." He winked at Rory and she blushed.

"Well if that's the case…" Robert winked at her and Rory was disgusted.

"Look I really don't want to have to revert to my training, so why don't you just go away? Leave my girlfriend alone and don't come near her again." Tristan tried his hardest not to get into any kind of fight before breakfast.

"I'm not that easy to get rid of." Rory snorted. "What was that for?" He turned to her with a glare on his face.

"Oh please." This time Rory did not hold back her eye roll. "I appreciate your effort, but as you see I have a boyfriend and he's here now so you don't have to worry about anything happening to lil' ol' me on the way back home—not that I really think that's what you were so worried about. So why don't you get on your way Robert and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of?" _Wow, that was a lot bitchier then I really meant to be. I guess it's in the name…I wish I could have said some of these things to Logan's friend Robert. Oh well, this one will just have to take his hit as well._

"I wouldn't want a bitch like you anyway. I'd just use you; you looked like you'd be a good lay," Robert said, ego obviously bruised and eager to insult her.

"I would walk away now before I do something you'll regret," Tristan said with a voice of steel.

"You're not worth the effort." Robert sneered at them before storming away in the opposite direction.

They stood there watching Robert stomp out of sight before Tristan said anything. "You managed to get yourself in an awful lot of trouble before I even got to have breakfast Mary."

Rory nodded. "He wouldn't go away, I'm sorry. And I just lost track of time and…"

"How long have you been gone?" Tristan had woken up a half hour ago so he could get ready to go on a run with Jasper and seeing that it was only seven-thirty in the morning he was a bit shocked Rory wasn't around but didn't think it was completely crazy. He hadn't been particularly worried about her, knowing she would be bothered if he freaked every single time she left the room without him knowing, but seeing her now, still in her pajamas he realized his initial assessment was wrong.

"I have no idea," she answered him seriously. By the expression on his face he was not buying it. "Seriously, I don't! I woke up this morning, it was still dark, yes, and noticed that it was snowing. I watched the snow fall for awhile before I decided I wanted to walk around in it. I didn't realize the time, I didn't take a watch or my phone out with me, and all of the sudden the sky started to get brighter and I decided it was time to head back to my room. Of course that's when I ran into my dear friend Robert," she said those words with sarcasm dripping from her voice, "and he delayed me a bit. What a creep. I seriously think it's something with the name."

"Really?" Jasper interrupted their conversation.

"Oh yeah. One of Logan's friends was named Robert and he was slimy too." Rory looked away from Jasper to see how Tristan was handling everything.

"You've been walking around in your pajamas for at least three hours…" He said slowly.

"Well, I guess so…" Rory answered nervously.

"Are you insane?"

"Tristan, it's the first snow!"

"So?"

"When the first snow happens you don't _change_ your clothes, you just go outside! I took a coat, doesn't that account for something?"

Tristan scoffed at her words. "You're going to get sick," he explained his reasoning.

Rory shrugged. "It's the first snow, it's magical."

"And what was so magical about this morning?" Tristan asked, thinking of Robert.

"Well you're here so…"

"Oh please, that's gross." Jasper rolled his eyes at them to which Rory responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

"And who knows what else will happen today. I just hope the snow sticks."

"It probably will. Now go put on real clothes."

"Where do you think I was going?" Rory said with a pout.

"No idea, maybe back with Robert," Tristan said with a smirk.

"You suck!" She hit his shoulder and continued her way to the building, anticipating the warmth inside.

"Love you too Mary!" Tristan called back to her, nodding towards Jasper so they could continue on their way.

**GGGGGG**

"How did you talk us into this?" Tim asked from one side of the field where he was working with Ella and Abby.

"What's your problem?" Rory called out, looking up from her own masterpiece, which she was working on with Tristan and Jasper.

"It's freezing cold out, there's snow on the ground and we're rolling up balls for a snowman! What's wrong with this picture? We should be having a snowball fight!"

"That sounds fun!" Benji yelled from his spot with Katie and Eli.

"Come on you guys! I thought you'd enjoy having a friendly competition going on!" Rory answered them. "And we can have a snowball fight as soon as we finish this and go ice skating! How's that for compromise?"

"How come you get to call the shots today?" Belle asked. She was sitting on the sidelines with Carter, having no interest in this activity the pair were going to be the judges.

"Because I organized the outing and I'm the one who knows the first snow rules! Besides, you should be grateful I'm skipping the snow angel part."

"Snow angels? I love snow angels!" Lucy moved away from the snowman she was building and flopped onto the ground immediately starting her snow angel.

"Finally! Someone who shares my love of snow!" Rory moved away from the boys and over to Lucy, joining in on the fun. "You would think since you guys grew up with all the snow you'd enjoy playing in it more.

"Well, after about six inches it's no longer fun to play in. And then a lot of times it's really solid snow and not loose."

"Better to build snowmen with though," Rory pointed out.

"I guess you've got a point. But you must remember that most people over the age 12 don't really play in the snow."

"Well, you guys don't know what you're missing! I'm ready to go ice skating though, I wish we were finished this part."

"Doesn't ice skating constitute as a sport?"

Rory laughed. "Yeah, but winter sports have a slight exception in my book…but only ice skating. I don't sled or ski or snowboard or any of that other stuff. It's way too intense for me."

Lucy nodded. "Makes sense. Oh, it looks like your boys need your help."

Looking over at Jasper and Tristan, Rory agreed with her friend's assessment. "I'll talk to you later." She went back to the boys with a smile still in place. "How's it going over here?"

"Well since we have no say whatsoever, why don't you tell us what you think? We are, after all, only your errand boys." Jasper said with a laugh. "And while Tristan may not mind, the rest of us are not receiving any kind of benefit from this activity."

Rory blushed a deep scarlet, barely picking up on the slightly embarrassed look on Tristan's face before staring at the snowman intensely. "I think it's time to decorate. You guys can relax, this is a woman's job!"

"Are you saying that a man can't decorate?" Jasper asked, sounding slightly offended at Rory's gender biased statement.

"I'm just saying that I have a better fashion sense then you guys so I should decorate the snowman. Besides…weren't you just telling me that you were finished doing my bidding when it came to this competition?"

"Yeah…but…"

"What?" She had a huge grin on her face and the others had actually stopped working on their own designs to listen to the little argument fall out. It seemed that Jasper had backed himself into a corner. "If you think you can finish off the snowman without my direction and win, then go ahead. I'm okay with that. Women aren't _always_ better with the design process, I'll admit that; after dating Logan I have to admit that men can have a fashion sense _and_ be straight."

"I'm sure he'd love to hear you say that Mary." Tristan shot a grin in her direction and Rory shook her head. Logan wasn't his favorite topic of discussion but the fact that she was okay bringing up his name was important, it meant that she was accepting her life as it was and was dealing with things instead of pushing everything aside.

"He was always proud of himself for not only picking out a fashionable item but for getting the size right. Personally, we all though it was a bit creepy, but Logan said that it was a result of living with Honor. But I don't see you knowing fashion and sizes because you have Emma."

"Emma's also younger. I'm sure if she was older I'd be different. And since Em has two older brother's she knows more about cars and sports then most little girls."

"She's not so little Tris, you know that, right?"

"Please! I hear enough from Greg about the way guys treat her in school, I don't need you reminding me. It's all I can do not to get on a plane and let those Chilton boys know they can't touch my sister!"

"Please," Rory rolled her eyes at him, "that'd be hypocritical. Those boys are no different then you were."

"And that's my problem. I didn't straighten out until military school and I doubt those guys are going there any time soon."

"I got Logan to straighten out without military school."

"And how old was he when that happened?" Tristan asked with raised eyebrows.

"Good point." Rory smiled at him.

"Your plan worked you know." Tristan told her while changing the subject slightly.

"What plan?" She answered him innocently.

"Like you don't know. You're not all innocence Mare, I know that, first hand too." Rory pretended to look hurt and offended. "That look won't work with me either. You'll always be my Mary, but you've grown up too."

"And what is that supposed to mean Mr. DuGrey?" Rory crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at him.

"It's supposed to mean that you said all of that stuff to Jasper to get him to decorate the snowman so you didn't have to and could enjoy the snow." Tristan wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. "You're so smart."

"How is he not? We're going to the same school."

"He's just another male that's fallen under your spell," Tristan explained to her. "One look into those big blue Bambi eyes and we men are helpless."

"Oh really? I'll have to remember that."

Tristan scoffed. "Don't tell me you didn't know that. You did." Rory only laughed at him. "You're going to get it now Gilmore!" Instantly Rory pulled away from him and started "running" in the opposite direction. The game was on and the laughter and shrieks coming from the two of them gathered everyone's attention. Everyone stopped briefly from their own projects to watch the pair run around and have a good time but then started concentrating again, each group wanting to win the competition and move onto to the rest of the Gilmore first snow day activities.


	24. Discoveries

**Chapter 24: Discoveries**

"Where are you? What are you doing?" Tristan asked the person on the other line as he walked into his dorm room. He had just finished his classes for the day and was looking forward to relaxing for a while, possibly even taking a nap.

"We're just leaving the house, going to school," Greg answered into the phone. He was letting Emma drive today but only because Tristan was on the phone and would kill him if he drove while on the phone.

"Is everything okay?" He had spoken to his siblings a few days before and something had seemed off with them but neither would tell him what was going on.

"Everything's fine. Thanks for the help with my English homework the other night."

"No problem, but make sure the next time you talk to Rory that you thank her."

"Why? She gave you those answers?"

"Rory's the journalism major, she's better with that stuff. I just passed your questions along to her."

"No wonder they made so much sense. The professor was really impressed with me. I didn't tell her that you helped me, I thought it would have given her a heart attack."

Tristan laughed. "Let me talk to Emma."

"She's driving."

"Really?" That was a surprise. Greg never let anyone drive his car, not even his sister.

"You get angry if I drive and talk to you."

"What else is going on?" Tristan knew he would have thrown the phone at Emma if what he was saying was the truth, so now he wanted more answered. "What happened?"

"It's nothing…really."

"Well, now I really know that you're lying," Tristan insisted, immediately forgetting about the nap he had been considering before. His brother had something on his mind and it couldn't be good.

"It's nothing…really. I'm just taking the SAT soon."

"You nervous?"

"Dad makes it impossible not to be."

"Don't worry about him."

"How can I not?"

"Just ignore him. I always did and it worked out quite well."

"And then you got sent to military school," Greg pointed out.

"You're not getting yourself sent to military school Gregory!" Emma declared.

"Stop eavesdropping on my conversation and concentrate on the road!" Greg scolded her.

"I'm not eavesdropping! You just can't get sent away!"

"I'm not going to get sent away!"

"You better not!"

"Greg! Stop talking about this, you're getting her upset and she's driving. You're not going to get sent to military school and you'll do fine on your exam. You'll make mom and dad proud by going to Yale or Harvard or Princeton, preferably Harvard, but don't let either of them talk you into anything. If you need advice go talk to Gramps."

"We all don't have the great relationship with him that you do Tris," Greg pointed out. And it was true. Janlan DuGrey had a soft spot for his oldest grandson. It wasn't that he didn't love his other grandchildren but Tristan sometimes felt that since his father didn't come down as hard on his siblings his grandfather treated them all differently.

"I know that Gramps can sometimes come across unfeeling but he loves us all and understands that dad can be a tyrant most of the time. He'll listen to you and he'll help. Who do you think helped me study?"

"You studied for the SAT's?" Greg asked, surprised.

"I couldn't get into Oxford with just my good looks," Tristan teased him.

"Especially since they're not even that good!"

"I would watch what you say if I were you, they do tell me that we look quite alike you know." Greg groaned knowing that what Tristan said was true. "Are you at school yet?" They only lived ten minutes from school, his siblings should have been there by now.

"Yeah."

"Good. Put Emma on, have a good day and go to Gramps after school today, okay? I'll even call him later for you."

"Thanks Tris, have a good afternoon."

"Don't cause too much trouble." The brother's laughed and Tristan waited for his sister to pick up the phone.

"Tris?"

"Don't worry about anything, okay Em?"

"How do you know?"

"Greg is much smarter then I ever was and he's not trying to show off to get some girl's attention. He's just trying to live up to Dad's incredibly high standards. No one can live up to those standards. You're the only girl so you'll be hit in a different way when you come of age, but you'll feel it then too."

"You won't be able to help me through that though." Emma knew what her brother was talking about when he spoke of her coming of age.

"Not directly, but I'll do whatever I can. And Rory knows the story."

"She'll still be around to help me then?"

"Do you think she's going anywhere?"

"I don't know, is she?"

"Not if I can help it," Tristan told her seriously.

"Good. I like her."

"I like her too." Tristan paused before continuing. "Are you going to be okay?"

"For right now I should be." Tristan nodded although she couldn't see him. "You'll call if you need anything?"

"Always."

"I love you Emma."

"Love you too Tris." They hung up the phone a minute later and Tristan was just about to move into his bedroom when Carter came storming into the room. "What happened?" The idea of taking a nap was fading quickly.

"Nothing."

"You're lying, just tell me."

"It's Ella."

"I should have known. What happened?" The couple had been separated for almost three months and it was driving everyone crazy.

"Nothing!"

"Okay…" Tristan was only slightly confused. He knew that Carter was dying to talk to his ex-girlfriend, although they had never formerly broken up so if they were truly "exs" neither really knew it. "Want to try and expand on that?"

Carter glared at his friend but continued anyway. "I don't know what to do anymore! I don't want to not be with her, I hate being around her and not talking to her and I hate seeing her with other people!"

"Was she with another guy?"

"No! Have you seen her with someone?" Carter was suddenly a lot more upset then he was ten minutes earlier.

"No, you just seem extremely upset."

"I want her back."

"Then go get her."

"It's not that easy."

"And why not?"

"Because it's been two and a half months and we haven't spoken to each other, we've been in the same place for the sake of our friends but that's it."

"Don't you think it's time to change that? She's hurting as much as you are but the difference is she doesn't really now why she's hurting. All she knows is that you've stopped talking to her. You left a weekend in London with her family very abruptly and that was it. You owe her an explanation and an apology."

"I don't want to cause a rift between her and her mother."

"That's between her and her mother. It would've happened whether you told her when it happened or if you tell her six months from now. I know how society families work man, and Ella would be pissed at her mother if her mother told her eight months down the line when the possibility of being with you was completely non-existent. I also know that after a few months they'd get past it, her mother would accept you and that would be that."

"Is that what's happening with Rory and her mom?" Carter asked, rather boldly. No one had really pried into what was going on with Rory's private life. Of course they knew that there were problems with her mom, but no one asked about anything more.

"I don't see how that's relevant."

"Well you're all high society and Rory hasn't spoken to her mother in months, I don't see that blowing over and I don't want to see Ella become like Rory."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tristan's voice got harsh, not liking his roommate's tone.

"I'm just saying that the Rory we know now is different from the Rory we met in August and I have a feeling that if she was on better terms with her mother we would know a completely different person all together. Rory had an extremely close relationship with her mother and it was damaged and so was she and maybe she'll never be who she once was."

Tristan was trying to keep the steam from coming out of his ears, trying to keep himself calm. "You don't really understand the dynamic of Rory and Lorelai, you don't understand what happened to Rory before she came here, you know nothing about Rory's life at all. You may have some bits and pieces but you don't understand so don't go judging her or her family or comparing her situation to anyone else's."

Carter could see that he had obviously crossed a line with his friend and instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Whatever. I have to go. I need to meet my girlfriend." Although Tristan didn't have plans with Rory and was actually pretty sure she was in classes he needed to get away from his own roommate. Throwing his backpack over his shoulder Tristan stormed out of his room and headed the short distance to Rory's room, pounding on the door in hopes that Ella was home.

"Tristan!" The blonde answered surprised to see him there. "Are you okay?" She noticed that he looked a little out of it and was slightly worried. "Rory isn't here, she's in class, but would you like to come in?"

Tristan nodded. "Thanks Ella."

"Is everything okay? Can I do something?" She was worried about her friend who looked upset and annoyed.

"You can't do anything, but thanks. Are you okay?" He noticed she looked a little sad and while that wasn't unusual these days, he did want to try and help.

"I just wish I knew what happened," she answered with a shrug. "But I'm never going to find out unless he tells me and I don't see that happening any time soon."

"I'm sorry," Tristan told her sincerely. "I've tried talking to him but he's not ready to listen."

"Then we're not meant to be. I can't let my life fall apart because he's decided to be stubborn. Thanks for trying though."

"Of course. I think I'm going to take a nap in Rory's bed."

"Go for it. I'm headed for class myself, she'll be back in a few hours."

Tristan looked at the clock on the wall and nodded. "I'll see you later, thanks for letting me in." He walked inside Rory's room and closed the door behind him. Dropping his bag on the ground and taking his shoes off, ready to climb into her bed and fall asleep. Just as he was about to do so, however, a piece of lined paper sitting on her nightstand caught his attention. Although he knew it was rude, Tristan picked it up and started reading…

_January 27, 2006_

_Dear Mom,_

_It's been a while since I've written you, which is both a good and bad thing. Things have been really good here and I haven't wanted to ruin anything, most importantly my mood, by thinking of our broken relationship. At least once a day I wish that I could pick up the phone and call you, tell you what's going on, but the pain is lessening slightly. Or maybe it's not lessening but it is becoming bearable. I recognize it and push myself past it. I know that if I continued to dwell in it I'd never get out of bed. I'd be stuck thinking about our broken relationship and how much I missed you and only end up worrying everyone around me, most importantly Tristan._

_You would love him Mom. I know I've told you this before, but you really would love him. If for no other reason then the fact that he's taken such good care of me these last couple of months. Ever since he found me at school. He's different from the boy I knew at Chilton and proves that to me every day. _

_The first snow happened last week. It was miraculous. I wanted to call you. I wanted to know if it was snowing over there, if it was the first snow or the tenth. I wanted to tell you that I coerced all 20 of my friends into a snowman building/decorating contest before finding a pond to go ice skating on and then participating in a nighttime snowball fight. It was amazing. You would have loved it. _

_Things here are okay. I'm really enjoying myself. I think I want to finish out my schooling her. I never realized how much I would enjoy England. It probably has a lot to do with Tristan and my friends here, but nonetheless it's how I feel. I hate being away from you but with all the craziness in my life it's been a really good thing. I wish you could come here and visit, I wish you could understand why I had to do this, I wish we still had our famous connection and you would know to call me but wishes don't always come true. After all, you wouldn't even take my phone number from Grandma, so how are you supposed to call me?_

_I hope that I can send you this letter one day mom. I hope you'll read it and realize how much I need you, now and for the rest of my life. But most of all I wish that I was brave enough to send this to you right now. I miss you. _

_Love,_

_Rory_

Tristan didn't realize he had a tear running down his face as he read Rory's short letter to her mom but quickly he wiped it away. He remembered telling her many months ago that she should write her feelings to her mother but she never said she was actually doing it. It would certainly help explain her change in demeanor. Letting go of some of your pent up emotions always helped, even if it wasn't exactly to the person themselves. But she was trying and he loved her for it. Without stopping to really think about his actions, Tristan got up and started looking around her desk. Pulling out a medium size box from the middle drawer of her desk Tristan found at least three dozen letters that Rory had written her mother. Without reading any more of them he choose half a dozen and shoved them in his backpack. His girlfriend may get mad at him when she realized what he had done, but it was worth it. She said it herself that she wasn't able to make that first move, he was simply going to make it for her. Tristan was going to push the envelope, quite literally actually, and get the Lorelai's back on some kind of solid ground--or a path to get there.

Feeling as though his good deed for the day [depending on whose point of view you were looking at the situation from was done, Tristan leaned back on Rory's bed and finally closed his eyes.

**GGGGGGGG**

"Sookie! I'm going home!" Lorelai called out from the dining room. There were very few people at the inn at the moment, most were out exploring the town, and Lorelai was done for the day. She knew that Sookie was making last minute changes to the dessert menu, as well as the breakfast menu, wanting everything to be perfect. It was one of the many things Lorelai loved about her best friend--her need for perfection. It was an attribute that made Sookie's cooking that much better than anyone else's.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Although Lorelai wouldn't tell her what had happened, ever since Thanksgiving Sookie had noticed a change in her friend. Something had happened over the holiday weekend and Lorelai wasn't talking about it. At least Sookie knew it had nothing to do with herself or with Luke...which unfortunately made it something about Rory. That, of course, had been Sookie's first guess and she had even spoken to Luke about it but the gruff man wasn't speaking. There had been rumors around town that a rich blonde boy, who definitely was not Logan Huntzberger, had been in Stars Hollow the day after Thanksgiving but no one knew anything else about him. He could have just been passing through but Sookie, as well as the rest of town, knew he was something more. They knew that somehow he was connected to the most beloved girl in all of Stars Hollow...a girl that everyone had missed over the past few months. Details of the fall out between Lorelai and Rory had been kept as silent as possible in their small town, only Luke, Jackson and Sookie really understanding the details. Letting information like this fall into the wrong hands, such as those of Miss Patty or Babette would be detrimental. Sookie figured Lane knew what was going on as well but no one discussed it. Rory Gilmore was the pink elephant in the middle of Stars Hollow.

But Sookie was sure something happened regarding Rory over Thanksgiving, even if Luke and Lorelai refused to speak. She would just have to wait out her best friend, offering advice when asked--and even when she wasn't asked--hoping that she was helping in some way. "Okay Lorelai, I'm almost done here and then it's home to Jackson and the kids. There's just something not right about tomorrow's breakfast menu!"

Lorelai smiled at Sookie's answer, liking that she knew at least one of her best friends as well as she claimed. Trying to shake Rory out of her mind Lorelai left the inn and headed for The Crap Shack. A sad smile crossed her face as she used the nickname thought up by herself and Rory all those years ago but she disregarded the sad feelings and concentrated on the happy memory of the day. And then she thought about Paul Anka waiting for her to lay her coat down on the stairs and Luke cooking something in the kitchen that she would even dream of trying to create. He was good to her. Really good to her; especially after her fight with Rory and Rory's consequential move to her grandparent's house and the last and final straw of her daughter moving to England without even forwarding her phone number.

Lorelai arrived at home, happy to see that the lights were on and she was right--Luke was brewing her coffee [against his better judgment, but he had learned the hard way it was better to have coffee waiting for her then to have her experience withdrawal symptoms and cooking dinner. "Paul Anka! Mommy's home!" She shouted out as she dropped her purse on the desk in the front hallway and hung her coat up on the coat rack by the door. "Where are you?" She called out when she still couldn't hear the thump of his feet on the wood. "Luke? You here?"

"Would there be someone else cooking you dinner in the kitchen?" He answered in his gruff voice although she could tell there was a smile on his face.

"Considering I left Sookie at the inn and I no longer see Max, then no, no one else would be cooking anything not frozen in my kitchen." Lorelai walked through the entranceway and kissed Luke sweetly. "It smells good, what is it?"

"Don't ask," he advised. Lorelai nodded. Luke knew it was better for her not to know ingredients or names if she would be turned off by them and therefore always trusted his judgment when told not to ask anymore questions.

"Where's Paul Anka?" Lorelai looked around the kitchen expecting him to be sitting on one of the chairs watching Luke cook.

"He's been quiet this evening," Luke told her.

Lorelai nodded. "Well I'm going to check the mail, maybe he'll come out front with me." She moved towards the front and called for him again. "Paul Anka! If you come downstairs with Mommy we can go outside! I have a nice wool coat for you to step on!"

"What wool coat?" Luke called from the kitchen.

"Oh, just something my mother gave me. I really don't know what she was thinking." _She was probably trying to get on my good side_, Lorelai thought. _After all, every since Rory left me and went to her she's been trying to "apologize". And it only got worse once Rory left her house for London. It must be some guilt my mother's feeling, let me tell you. _"There you are!" She cried when Paul Anka came slowly down the steps. "It's the wool coat, right? Gets you every time...almost as good as sugar on the toes!" Lorelai grabbed the coat and laid it on the stairs, knowing that Paul Anka would follow her out the door. "Let's go see what's in the mail." She walked around the yard with her furry friend for a short while before leading him to the mailbox. There was a thicker envelope this evening that immediately caught her attention. Lorelai's heart beat started to race once she noticed that it was a thick envelope from England but decelerated greatly when she noticed the return address was from one Mr. T. DuGrey.

Lorelai had mixed feelings about Tristan. When he and Rory first met she didn't like him, and neither did Rory. He was the epitome of everything Lorelai didn't want for Rory, and he used antiquated nicknames like Mary. She had honestly thought that kids had stopped using names that like, but apparently Biblical references continue forever. He was snotty and rich and made Rory realize how lucky she was not to have grown up in Hartford. Of course the rest of Chilton helped Rory realize that as well but Lorelai always thought Tristan did a particularly good job at that. Especially since he got shipped off to military school. His leaving really showed Rory how harsh Hartford families could be--how harsh families of high society with a lot of money who only cared about getting richer could be. As much as she disliked Tristan when he was 16, she had to respect the man he had grown up into.

It took a lot of guts to come into her town, her territory, and on her turf tell her what she had done wrong in the past year with her daughter. To tell her how she messed up being such a cool mom and to tell her that her daughter was so nearby yet so far away took a lot of courage and Lorelai respected him for it. She hated that he said it but she understood. He had to do something to help Rory even if it really wasn't directly helping her. He had to make one of them understand and somehow Lorelai ended up being the more rational one--it was territory that came with being a parent.

And although the cocky 16-year-old Rory had known at Chilton would have stood up to her-Lorelai-back then, Rory would have hated him for it; and without even seeing her daughter Lorelai knew that Rory wouldn't hate Tristan now. After all, Rory would have never started dating Tristan if she thought he was anything like his former self. Rory disliked that version of Tristan although she understood where it came from--Rory always understood. That was, of course, until her best friend turned her back on her. She didn't understand that and Lorelai didn't blame her. She didn't understand why Rory had changed so much in the past year and a half. Rory had grown up into a woman that Lorelai couldn't exactly recognize and it was hurting both of them, but Lorelai let that hurt go to far. She let it sink in too much.

Leaving the rest of the mail where it sat Lorelai tore open the envelope and started reading the letter on top. She never even noticed that a pile of letters, rubber banded together, fell to the snow-covered ground as she continued to read the messy script on the page. She read the letter, once, twice and then a third time before the words started to sink in. And then she looked to the ground and saw the piles of letters. The pile of letters that she could recognize Rory's writing on. Taking a deep breath Lorelai bent down to pick up the letters.

"Lore?" Luke called out from the front door. She had been outside for 20 minutes, which usually meant she was cornered by Babette or some other lunatic in this town and he was ready to save her from them.

"Hmm?" Lorelai answered his call distractedly, still staring down at the pile of letters on the ground.

He looked around and noticed that she was out there all alone, Paul Anka sitting at her side just staring at her. "Are you okay?" He started walking towards the pair, wondering what they were each staring at. "What happened? Was there something in the mailbox?"

"Was there ever," Lorelai muttered. She was still just staring at the letters.

"Do you need me to pick those up for you?" Luke asked, utterly confused over what was going on.

"No!" Lorelai grabbed them instantly and headed inside without looking back at Luke or Paul Anka.

"Okay..." Luke dragged out the word and then looked at the dog. "Do you know what just happened here?" He reached into the mailbox and pulled everything else out, knowing that Lorelai would eventually come out of her haze and want to read the rest of the mail. "Lore?" Luke called out to her when he walked into the house, hanging up the wool coat full of snow and closing the front door. "What's going on?" He walked into the kitchen to find her pouring over letters and crying. "What happened?" Lorelai continued to ignore him as she read through her letters. Luke found one letter exposed and picked it up, unable to stop himself from knowing what had happened.

_Lorelai--_

_After our brief but most likely effective conversation over Thanksgiving weekend I am sure you never expected to hear from me again. Well, you probably did expect to hear from me since you most likely figured out that I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Rory and I, we're doing really well together, and I don't forsee that changing. At least I don't think it will. After she finds out what I've done it may get a little rocky but she'll get over it. She wants this so much more than I think she realizes. If you haven't thought about how much time I spend with Rory already, you must now realize it's quite a bit since I'm managing to ramble even in a letter. But I am digressing from the reason for this letter. _

_A few months back when Rory was really down about not being able to talk to you, I had suggested that she write you letters. This way when you finally got them you would know exactly how often she was thinking of you and what was going on in her life while you were apart and maybe even you'd even feel like you were with her for just a short time of your separation. Of course she never told me that she was writing you letters and I didn't want to know. It was something for the two of you, nothing that I needed to know about. But she's missed you a lot over the holidays and after seeing how much you missed her I couldn't not send these letters to you. _

_There are more, a few dozen more, but I picked these few. And before you ask, no, I did not read them. I don't know when they were written. They could have been months apart, weeks apart, days apart or hours apart. But know that they were written by Rory, who was not under gunpoint. Read them, understand them and do with them what you may. If you want to contact her, do it. Write back to her, or call her, but do something. I've made the first move, neither of you had to lower your pride. But now you need to be her mother, be the parent, the more mature Lorelai, and let her know how much you really do care about her. Let her know that she made a mistake, she disappointed you, but you too made a mistake and disappointed her. You two are even now, you need to apologize, forgive and forget or you'll never get your relationship back. And she wants it back…as badly as you do. _

_One more thing before I say goodbye Lorelai—I won't give you her phone number. I can't do that. I've done too much by sending you these letters. You might think that if I've done this much I should just go ahead and give you the phone number but on general principle I can't. Call your mother and ask; that way when you tell Rory she'll know how much you really care. Knowing that you made the effort to talk to your mother, who you can't stand on a good day and you're presently extremely angry at, will mean a lot to her, I know it will. _

_Once again, please think about everything these letters stand for. What they say and what's underneath those plain words. I hope this helps you as much as I know it's helped Rory. _

_Yours Truly,_

_Tristan J. DuGrey_

Luke put down the letter, still in shock from its unexpected words and looked at Lorelai. She was reading one of the letters from Rory and the tears were now freely falling down her face.

Lorelai sat at the table uncaring over her tears and ignoring Luke's concerned stare. She knew he had read Tristan's letter but was too wrapped up in the first letter from her daughter. The first contact she was getting with her best friend in months and she wasn't ready to put it down.

_December 1, 2005_

_Dear Mom, _

_It's been a while since I've taken the time to write to you but since right now I could use your advice more than anything and can't pick up that phone, this letter will have to do. I just got back from Thanksgiving in Hartford with Tristan and his family. I'm surprised, and happy, to report that it was actually a really good weekend. Besides his absurd father Tristan's family is pretty great. His mother has no backbone but really good intentions and does love her children even if she can't show it properly [she also favors Tristan but that is the curse of the oldest I think. And it turns out he has siblings--a younger brother and sister, they're five and four years younger than him but the three of them are really close, it's sweet actually. And his grandparents are the sweetest people I've met. The perfect older couple--you would actually enjoy spending time with them despite the fact that they know Grandma and Grandpa. _

_I also saw Dad this weekend. It was nice being so close to home and getting to see at least one of my parents. I know Tristan was in Star's Hollow--Luke's breakfast was amazing, thank him for me, and tell him I love that he gave into sending Tristan home with ground coffee for me--and I know that he spoke with you...that you two had words. I'm sorry if what he said hurt your feelings, but you have hurt my feelings [as I know I've hurt yours and he was only looking out for me. He cares about me, he may even love me, and hates to see me in the pain that I'm in. And I am in pain Mom. But he told Dad about his conversation with you and while they didn't speak loud enough for me to get the details I know that Dad was impressed. He may have been absent when I was growing up, but he sure is trying now Mom. He really is. _

_I even got to see the Yale kids--Colin, Finn and Steph--for dinner Sunday night. I enjoyed that conversation as well. It was nice to feel like an old part of myself was coming back. The more I grow into who I've become and accept the mistakes I've made the better I feel. I'm trying to correct all those mistakes mom. It started with the community service and now I'm trying to recreate myself into someone everyone can be proud of in England...I only wish you could tell me what you thought thus far. _

_The real point of this letter though, is for your advice. I will never be too old for your advice and I will most likely always listen to said advice. There will be times when we disagree of course, but that's what happens when I truly become my own person. You can't blame me for that. But back to my previous point. I had a "fight" with Tristan. I use quotes because it wasn't a true fight but it was getting close. I walked away before it could really escalate though. We were having a good time, joking with our friends, talking about when we were in high school and he just pushed me a little too far. Then he started talking about how I may have been your "mini-me" but I finally grew up and had my own opinions and my own mind and did things you didn't approve of so that's the straw that broke the camel's back so they say. I stopped taking everything you said and did as gospel, started being an independent person and realized that you had incredibly high expectations for me. Expectations that ever since that one night with Dean I could no longer live up to. It wasn't fair to me and while I'm sure it wasn't intentional, I didn't live up to those expectations as you hoped and it caused a rift between us. _

_I was having such a good time tonight with all of our friends that I didn't want to argue, I didn't want to think about our rift, the one between you and me, but he brought it up. It was too much and I left. I know he'll come after me tonight, give me some time to cool down, but I do wish you could tell me what you think. I wish you could tell me that you love me despite my problems; despite the fact that I didn't live up to everything you wanted from me. And I seriously hope one day you can tell me that. It's what I need more than anything in order to heal. _

_I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving Mom. It wasn't the same for me without four dinners and pie, rolls, and coffee from Luke's at the end of the night. I miss you...a lot. I love you Mom. _

_--Rory _

Lorelai read the words, surprised that Rory and Tristan had only started dating over Thanksgiving weekend. They were probably attached at the hip beforehand, but now they were official. And she knew what a big deal that must have been for Rory. It seemed that she got to see everyone over Thanksgiving weekend except for her…and her grandparents. Lorelai briefly wondered why Rory hadn't seen her parents and then remembered Emily and Richard were going to Europe for the holidays and probably saw her on their way over and most likely on their way back.

As she read through the rest of the letters, one from New Years, another from her 21st birthday [a day that Lorelai had missed her more than any other, another from when she first got to school and one from as recently as a week ago, Lorelai realized, once again, how ridiculous the argument was. Reaching over the table Lorelai picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Good evening, Gilmore residence."

"Hi, Emily Gilmore please," Lorelai said.

"May I ask who's calling?" The soft voice asked.

"This is her daughter, Lorelai."

"Oh, her granddaughter," the woman said, obviously knowing who Rory was.

"No, no, this is her _daughter_, Lorelai. Is my mother there?" She was getting impatient.

"Hold on please."

"Lorelai?" Emily's recognizable voice came through the lines a moment later.

"Hi Mom." Why was talking to her mother always so difficult?

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Emily asked immediately. Her daughter hadn't contacted her in months, this phone call was completely unexpected.

"I'm fine mom."

"Rory? Is everything okay with her?" Although Emily and Richard were paying for school and had a close relationship with their granddaughter, if anything had happened to Rory Lorelai would certainly be the first to know.

"Rory's fine mom."

"Okay. Good. Then what can I do for you? Your father and I were just going to sit down for dinner."

For the first time she noticed that it was close to seven o'clock. "Sorry mom, it'll be quick. I was just wondering…well…could you…I mean…I wanted to…"

"Lorelai! Dinner is getting cold! Could you please just tell me whatever is it that you're looking for? Unless you're calling to yell at us again and then I must insist you call back later."

"No mom, I'm not calling to yell at you," she took a deep breath before continuing, "I was calling to ask you for Rory's phone number…in England."

There was a long, awkward silence. "Oh." Emily's one word was followed by a longer silence then before. "Hold on please." Emily walked away from the phone and came back a moment or two later. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." She recited the phone number and Lorelai wrote it down, repeating it to make sure she got it right. "Thanks mom."

"Of course."

"Are you okay?" Lorelai was worried by the lack of comment her mother was making over this phone call.

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"You haven't said anything about me asking for Rory's number."

"She's your daughter Lorelai, if you want her phone number you're entitled to it without comment from me. Although I must say it's about time you became the grown-up in the situation. We understand that you don't approve of her taking time from Yale or going to Oxford, but there comes a time when you must accept the disappointment and move on."

"I guess you would know all about that mom, wouldn't you?" Lorelai said, wondering why she had pushed her mother into her usual routine of brining her down a notch.

"I didn't say that. I'm just happy you're going to make amends with your daughter. You two need each other."

"Wow mom…I…"

"I have to go now Lorelai, dinner is getting cold. Good night."


	25. Adjusted

**AN:** If you can pick out the two movie lines in this chapter and tell me the movie I'll be impressed AND give you a virtual cookie

**Chapter 25:** **Adjusted**

"You're in a surprisingly good mood," Tyler mentioned to Rory as she sat down at the table next to him.

"Really? Have I been in a lousy mood lately?" She hadn't felt upset or sad about anything lately. Thinking about her mother still hurt but she had been pushing that out of her mind. Rory had been concentrating on classes and preparing to tell her grandparents she wouldn't be returning to America until post-graduation. She wasn't exactly sure how they would take it.

"Not really, it's just...you seem a bit more chipper today. Have a lot of coffee lately?"

Rory glared at him. "No! I did not, thank you very much! I only had a few cups."

"So you mean less than a dozen or more?"

"Only about five so far today, six including this one." She motioned to the cup of coffee in her hand and took a long sip. "I'm hungry." She looked down at her lunch and then back at Tyler. "Where is everyone?" She looked around again, surprised that they were the only two sitting there.

"No idea." Tyler shrugged. "Though I believe there was a rumor that Eli was joining us but we're the only three I know of that have off this time." It was the same time that everyone ate lunch together last semester; however, this semester schedules were so different that it looked like only three or four of them would manage to meet up at a time. "So you're good?"

"Yeah. How are you?"

"Not too bad."

Rory stared at Tyler, not really understanding what was going on. "What are you doing this afternoon?"

"Hey guys! What's up? Just us three today?" Eli unceremoniously dropped his tray on the table and sat down with them, not caring that he interrupted their conversation.

"Just us," Rory confirmed. "How are you? Are you done for the day?"

"Yeah. I love Tuesdays," Eli said with a grin. "What about you?"

"Only one more left. I'll be done by 3pm."

Eli nodded. "What are you up to Ty?"

"Oh, I'm done too. I have a paper due next week that I should start working on."

"You're not going to wait for the night before?" Rory teased. She was typically the only one who worked ahead.

"My sister and her friends are going to be in London for their spring break this weekend, before they head on to the rest of Europe. She wants me to come down, takes a big chunk out of my prep time. The paper is due Monday after all."

Rory nodded. "How are things with Tristan?" Eli asked, laughing when Rory almost choked on her food. "Have you ever noticed how much she eats?" He asked Tyler.

"More importantly, have you ever noticed that she tends to get tongue-tied and confused when we start asking her about Tristan? You'd think by now she'd be used to our questions; they're dating!"

Rory rolled her eyes. "I know! And it's not like we see him every day. We're not Jasper or Carter or Ella. We don't live with her…"

"Such a shame," Tyler interrupted.

"I know. Isn't it? Oxford needs co-ed dorms, they do."

"But like I was saying, we don't live with her, we're not part of the 'Oxford' clique, so we need details from her. Pretend we're one of your girlfriends or something. Or better yet, you said I reminded you of Finn, tell me what you would tell him."

"Why? I've talked to Finn, he knows everything."

"Don't you want a Finn that's closer?" Eli asked. "And I'm hurt that you'd tell him but not me!"

"Or me!"

"I didn't realize you cared," Rory said with a bat of her eyelashes.

"Of course we care. Now spill!"

Rory grinned. "You guys are ridiculous. Things with Tristan are fine."

"But…" Tyler started for her.

"**But**," Rory continued, "there's something going on between him and Carter because of everything between Carter and Ella and it's hurting him. But things between Tristan and me are fine. They're really good. I'd be lost without him."

"Lost?" Eli asked. "Isn't that a bit strong?"

"I guess." She shrugged. "But he's done a lot for me. This conversation is too heavy, can we change the topic?" Rory looked down at her watch. "Actually, we can, I have class on the other side of campus in fifteen minutes, I should go. Have a good afternoon guys, later!" Hurrying away from the table Rory threw out her trash and headed for her classroom happy to get away from her friends. They were great people but sometimes a bit hard to deal with. "Hello?" Rory picked up her ringing phone just as she reached the building holding her next class.

"You'll never guess where I am," the voice on the other line said.

"New York City, getting ready for you first gig as a band with a label behind it?" Rory guessed, smiling at the voice of her best friend so far away.

"Well as much as I would love for that to be true, no."

"Okay, so you're getting ready to go into your first church service that Mama Kim didn't guilt you into?"

"What are they feeding you over there? Maybe I need you to kidnap you and bring you back to America."

"One more try; I get one more chance!" Rory insisted. "Here it goes…you are standing outside of Luke's trying not to freak out because Zach just asked you to marry him by giving you a ring he probably won from the arcade."

"What? Rory? What's wrong with you? Why would I be marrying Zach? I'm only 20!"

"I don't know, it was just a guess!" Rory insisted.

"Well it was a bad one!"

"Okay, I get that! But I've had my three guesses, you've laughed at them all, so now tell me where you are."

"How about standing in London's Heathrow airport waiting for my luggage before I get into a car headed for Oxford?"

"What?" Rory could hear the grin on her best friend's face over the phone lines. "Don't get into a car! I'm coming there! It'll take me forty-five minutes! But I need to hang up and call Toby first! Don't get into any car, okay? Not unless I'm there!"

"Rory! Rory! Listen to me! I can't wait for you to get here. I see my luggage right now! I'll get through security and customs and then get into the waiting car. Tristan set it up; I'm not worried about anything. I'll be there faster then you know it. Promise!"

"Are you sure? Are you really sure? Cause I'll come. I'll get in a cab right now and meet you there, I don't care."

"I'm sure. I'll be there in an hour or so. I'll call you when I get there, you can meet me wherever it is Tristan told them to drop me off."

"Okay, if you're sure…" Obviously Rory wasn't as sure.

"I promise I'll be fine."

"Okay, good." Rory hung up the phone and headed off towards Tristan's dorm, banging on the door until someone answered it.

"What is going on here?" The door swung open to reveal an annoyed looking Tim. "Gilmore! When are you going to realize that you can just walk in?"

Rory glared at him. "Don't start with me. You're ruining my good mood and that doesn't bode well for you…or anyone!" She walked in the room and saw everyone was there, including Ella and Carter but Tristan was missing. "Where is he?" She asked the room at large, having dropped her book bag when she walked into the room and was now bouncing back and forth on her feet in excitement.

"Not back from class yet, what's gotten into you?" Ella asked. She wasn't exactly leaning into Carter but she was sitting awfully close to him.

"What's going into the two of you?" She looked pointedly back and forth between Ella and Carter not knowing that the "couple" had been the elephant in the middle of the room all afternoon.

"We got a chance to…" Ella started but was cut off as the door opened.

"Hail! Hail! The gang's all here!" Tristan said with a laugh, having only noticed his friends and not Rory. "What's happening folks?"

"I can't believe you!" Rory yelled as she turned around, a huge smile on her face.

"So she called?" Tristan asked, immediately knowing what Rory was referring to.

"Yup." She nodded happily and could hold back no longer, immediately launching herself into his arms. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"I told you that I would make it happen baby, and Lane called, so I made it happen."

"Lane?" Belle asked, having heard Tristan's last few words.

"My best friend from home," Rory told her, still holding on to Tristan. "She was just getting her bags when she called me. I can't believe you actually flew her out here! I know you said you were going to but I didn't think it would be so soon!"

"I am a man of my word," Tristan reminded her.

"I know you are. I've known you for years," Rory said with a smirk, unable to finish because of Carter's interruption.

"Uh-oh, she's wearing Tristan's smirk and I know that smirk…she's up to something."

Rory stuck her tongue out at him. "Hush you." She turned back to Tristan but not before getting her own dig in. "It seems that everyone else is avoiding the big pink elephant in the middle of the room but I didn't grow up in proper society so I have no tact, just ask Shira Huntzberger, so let me tell you right now." She looked directly at Carter and Ella and shifted her eyes between the closeness of their bodies and the fact that their hands were now connected. "Carter and Ella, you owe us all an explanation as to what in the hell happened between the two of you in the past, oh, I don't know, 36 hours? If not everyone then just tell me and Tristan because we have been the two that have had to deal with all your shit and your mood swings. Oh, and don't worry if you don't want to tell the story to eve_ryone_," at her words the rest of the group moaned but she just winked at them, "because we'll be more than happy to fill everyone in on _all_ the sordid details."

"What? Rory!" Ella protested as everyone else cheered.

Rory shrugged. "It's your fault, I don't want to hear it." She turned her attention away from her friends and towards her boyfriend. "You're the best, you know that?"

"I have been told that before," Tristan said with a grin. "You think I could put my stuff down now?" Rory had attacked him the minute he walked in the door so he was still wearing his coat and carrying his school bag.

"I guess I could allow that," Rory agreed, watching as Tristan walked into his room.

"When are you two just going to do it already?" Tim asked. "What?" He glared at Ella who slapped him at his words.

"You're tactless!"

"What? She just said she wasn't tactful, why does that mean I have to be?" He complained.

"There's a difference between what she wants to know and what you're asking," Ella explained; Tim rolled his eyes.

"He has a point though," Katie argued, "you can cut the sexual tension between the two of them with knife." Rory watched the conversation happening around her about her, in front of her face, between her friends, in shock. She hadn't thought about her sexual relationship with Tristan; she had just gotten used to having an emotional relationship again. Her relationship with Logan had started off by holding the emotions back and only concentrating on the sexual aspect and whether it was a good thing or a bad thing Rory wasn't sure. But part of her blamed the way her relationship with Logan ended based on the way it began. The entire relationship, from beginning to end, was completely out of her character. Come to think of it, her entire existence as a non-virgin was completely out of character. Hell, she lost her virginity to a married man, something she never thought would have happened before.

"Rory?" Abby asked, noticing her friend's spacey look. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine," Rory answered with a distracted tone of voice.

"Are you sure?" Tristan's voice was added to the mix.

"I'm positive," Rory told them again. Her phone rang suddenly and she was happy for the distraction. "Hey Lucy, what's going on?"

"Where are you?"

"Tristan's. He flew my best friend from Stars Hollow in and I wanted to thank him."

"Oh, so is she there?"

"Not yet, she's on her way here from the airport. What are you doing?" Rory twirled a piece of hair around her finger, even more anxious for Lane to get to town. Apparently the best friends had a lot more to talk about then she had expected.

"Hanging out in between classes, I'm bored."

"Actually…I need help picking out an outfit. Want to meet me at my room?'

"An outfit? For Lane? Don't want to get on her bad side? Then again, how could you possibly own a band screen t-shirt that she would disapprove of?" Tristan teased her.

"Hush you!" Rory yelled at him.

"Me?" Lucy asked from her side of the phone.

"Not you, Tristan, he's making fun of me. Meet me at my room in five minutes?"

"Assuming I can walk that fast, sure," Lucy answered with a laugh before hanging up the phone.

"Why are you always such an ass?" Rory asked, slapping Tristan's bicep, throwing him a playful glare.

"Only on special occasions," Tristan answered. "You know, if it was anyone else you were going to change for I would be extremely nervous."

"What about jealous?" She teased.

"Yeah, that too," he agreed. "But since it's only Lane, I'll be okay. Go get ready for your best friend. Are we all going out to dinner tonight?"

Rory pondered his question for a minute, not really sure if she'd be ready to share her best friend so soon OR if Lane would have the energy to go out. "I'll let you know, okay? I'll have to talk to Lane about it first."

Tristan could see that there was something else going on in Rory's mind but decided not to push her right that minute. "Okay, let us know. Have fun dear."

"Whatever loser." Rory picked her bag up from where she had dropped it and hurried out the door to her own room wanting to get it straightened up to Lane's arrival…and trying to forget she didn't know how soon she'd have to say goodbye to her best friend.

**GGGGGG**

"You're here!" Rory yelled as soon as she flung the door open. Even though she'd tried to get Lucy to stay and meet Lane but her friend was intent on going to class. Nonetheless Rory threw her arms around Lane and held on tight, happy when Lane returned her gesture.

"Geez, you would think we hadn't seen each other in months!" Lane exclaimed a big smile on her face as she hugged Rory.

"Well it has been since Thanksgiving," Rory rationalized, finally letting her go and helping to move Lane's bag into her dorm. "How are you? How was the flight? I can't believe that you're here!" Rory bounced around before hugging her friend again.

"I'm good, I'm good. How are you? I can't believe I made it here either, but Tristan offered last time I spoke to him and I needed a break from the guys and from my mother and it was time."

"How is the band?"

Lane sighed. "Well, we were okay, but then Zach just started being…"

"What?" Rory looked at her friend curiously.

"Let's put it this way…we had this big gig, there was a label there, a _label_ Rory, and Zach just…"

"Wait a minute, you had a gig, where a record label was listening and you didn't tell me?"

"I'm sorry! It was just so crazy."

"No excuses next time Kim, NONE, now tell me what happened."

"Zach flipped out! He brought along some little foreign man to play the tambourine, changed the set list AND got a wireless microphone!"

"What? A foreign man on the tambourine?"

"The tambourine? That's not the point here Rory!"

"I'm sorry, I think that's a pretty important point."

"Okay, so it's an important part but it's not the **most** important part," Lane stressed.

"Well then, fill me in on the most important part," Rory insisted, extremely interested in what was going on with her best friend.

"Zach flipped out while we were performing! He was changing the set-list and then he was changing the tempo without telling anyone and the tambourine was throwing all of us off, except Zach, course," Lane rolled her eyes at this point, "and it was a disaster Rory! A true disaster!"

"I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you think," she tried to comfort her friend.

"Oh, it wasn't as bad as I think, it was worse! It was a disaster! Zach made a mess of the entire stage, he got upset and threw things and I watched the record label guy walk out of the room. I can't believe it Rory, we had a chance, a _real_ chance and he blew it!" Lane took a deep breath and put her head in hands in a sign of distress. "What am I going to do? I've been planning on this band to work out, to do everything for me, music is my life."

"Just because Zach messed up doesn't mean it's over for you, or for the others," Rory tried to soothe her friend.

"What are you talking about? We lost the lead guitar and the lead vocals! You can't just replace that person overnight!"

"Of course you can't but…" Rory bit her lip, not knowing if she should really say what she wanted to.

"But what?" Lane looked at her friend with a bit of hope in her eyes, Rory was always good for another point of view.

"Well…have you heard from Dave?"

"Dave?" Lane questioned, a little lost as to who Rory was referring to…and then it her. "Dave, as in _Dave_?"

"Yes, as in Dave. You know, the guy who made up every excuse that your mother would buy in order to spend more time with. The one that you were in love with and loved you back."

"Until he moved to California!" Lane exclaimed. "And forgot about me!"

"Lane…that's not true," Rory began. "You guys worked on a relationship for a while, but then you decided it was too much. He wanted to work on things…"

"Yeah…" It was the truth, Lane couldn't deny that.

"Well…what if you went out there?"

"What?" She looked up sharply at her friend.

"What if you bought a ticket and flew out to California? Of course I would suggest calling him first, but get together, see what he's doing out there. I bet he would jump at the chance to see you again, and I bet he'd love to hear what's been going on. He probably knows someone who knows someone who knows someone that can get you a real gig."

"But I don't have a band Rory!"

"Lane! You'll get a band. I bet Dave is just waiting for you…"

"Yeah right. I'm sure he has another band with a perfect drummer and the perfect girlfriend to top it off!"

"You don't know that! Besides, who in the world is a better drummer or a better girlfriend then you?"

"Any girl who isn't hiding her band or her boyfriend from her mother," Lane answered immediately.

Rory couldn't help but laugh. 'Okay, that may be true, **but** maybe, just maybe you could show him that you no longer hide things from your mother. And maybe you'll decide that living in California is a better way to get a band started then living in Stars Hallow."

"Plenty of bands have started off in small towns," Lane argued.

"Yes, that's true, but you can start a band with Dave in California and go to a school out there where you can wear jewelry and make-up and listen to whatever music you want to and hang out with people from the opposite sex without fear of getting kicked out."

Lane laughed. "College wouldn't be a bad thing…but I would be leaving home. I don't think Mama Kim would like that."

"I think for once you need to think about you," Rory suggested.

"I'll think about it," Lane consented.

"Good." Rory nodded. "That's all I wanted." She smiled at her friend. "Have I told you how happy I am that you're here?"

This time it was Lane that nodded. "So do you want to tell me what's going on with you and the blonde Adonis known as your boyfriend?" Rory laughed but Lane saw something serious in her friend's face. "Alright, I know that look, what's going on?"

"I don't know how to really explain it…it's something that I realized just today…"

"Well then it really is a good thing I'm here, isn't it?" Lane said with a laugh. "Tell me your problems child." Rory laughed at Lane's horrible accent and sighed before beginning.

"Tristan is amazing Lane. Absolutely amazing. He's nothing like the guy I knew in high school, he's so completely different and I wouldn't be who I am right now if it wasn't for him."

"And may I add that I like this person you are? I've only been with you a short time, but for the first time since school ended last May I'm beginning to see pieces of the old Rory that I grew up with. Not that I thought the 'new' you was awful, but you were so different and it was insane."

"I know what you're saying, thanks." Rory smiled, happy that Lane was seeing that progress she was making while being at Oxford and meeting Tristan. At least now she knew that the old her was coming through to people who actually knew her, there was hope. She could grow and still retain pieces of her former self; she wouldn't have to give up her old life in order to be a grown up. "Tristan's had a lot to do with that."

"I know," Lane agreed. "He's good for you."

"I'm glad you think so."

"I do think so, but now let's talk about what's going on in that busy little head of yours."

Rory laughed. "He's been amazing. He's helped me so much these past few months. He became my best friend and then my boyfriend and we're basically inseparable. He gets along with my family, he's met everyone but my mother, and I get along with his. Of course, no one can really get along with his father but I think once I prove to him that I'm not going anywhere he might give me a real chance."

"He sounds like a peach, Tristan's father," Lane interrupted.

"Yeah. He's certainly a character, but Tristan's learning to stand up with him and he has a great relationship with his grandfather so that's good as well. And he has two younger siblings that are amazing and he's so good with them. I can only imagine what he'd be like with small children. And I don't really have to imagine because I saw him with Gigi when we visited my dad and her over Thanksgiving weekend. Oh! Did I tell you about that weekend?"

"Not really…"

"He went to Stars Hallow."

"What?"

"Yeah, he was there and got breakfast for me. And he even convinced Luke to send him back with ground coffee for me; it's fantastic. Not only did he do that but he talked to my mother. He confronted her. I don't know all the details because I only overheard a conversation between him and my father and even then I didn't get to overhear everything but enough to realize that he really gave my mother an earful and no one does that and survives…but he did."

"He loves you."

Rory nodded. "Yeah, he does."

"And you love him back." This time when Rory nodded it was much slower. "But you haven't told him, have you?"

"He hasn't told me either!" Rory defended.

"Yeah, well he's probably just scared of scaring you off. He knows about your past relationships and he knows that you're still in a sensitive state so of course he wouldn't want to freak you out or anything."

"I guess that's true."

"But that's not what was bothering you, was it?"

"Not really although I had thought about."

"What else is on your mind?"

"Sex."

Lane laughed, she was a bit taken aback by Rory's admission. "Well, you're not a virgin, so…"

Rory rolled her eyes at her friend. "Yes, thank you Lane, I know that I'm not a virgin but it's just…well, in all these months I never thought about it. I was so wrapped up in my own drama and then we were friends and then dating but I never really thought about taking our make-out sessions to the 'next level'. He's never pushed me and I didn't go there. I don't know; it's weird. My relationship with Logan started off with only sex and then got emotional but my relationship with Tristan is very emotional and not very sexual."

"Does that bother you? I mean, wouldn't you want the emotions before the sex? It didn't work out so well with Logan having it the other way around."

"I know that. And I'm glad that Tristan and I haven't really done anything together, but that doesn't make it any easier for something to happen. I don't know if I'm holding him back or he just doesn't want to or…"

Lane laughed. "I'm sure he _wants_ to Rory. What normal male doesn't want to have sex? He's loved you since he was 16, he's probably dying to see you naked, but he's not going to push you. You said it yourself, he's grown up now, he can hold back those urges until he's sure you're ready. And I know you hate making the first move, but you're going to have to do something to show him that you're ready for that next step. He won't do it without some kind of sign from you."

"You're right, you're right, I know you're right," Rory said with a sigh.

"Geez, it's not like I'm telling you to stop dating some married guy because he'll never leave his wife for you," Lane said without thinking of anything but the movie that Rory had just quoted. As her words sank in though, her face fell and she immediately started apologizing. "Oh Rory, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

Rory laughed. "I know Lane, I know, it's okay. It was a good movie reference though, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks. Did I help with the Tristan situation?"

"I think so."

"Rory, do you want to have sex with Tristan?"

Rory blushed. "I think I do. There's so much between us, I want us to go there…I just…"

"Then do something about it, let him know you're okay with it. It'll be one of those awkward situations you hate, I'm sure of that, but it needs to be done."

"I know." Rory sighed. "Oh! Everyone was planning on going out to dinner tonight and they invited us but I didn't know what kind of mood you'd be in. Are you up to it? We don't have to go you know."

Lane grinned. "I'm dying to meet them, let's go!"

"Great! Come on, we'll surprised everyone. I'm sure that they're at the pub, it's not like we ever go anywhere else!" The girls gathered their coats and headed out, laughing at the stories they were sharing from finals and roommates to Mama Kim and Luke's.


	26. Off Kilter

**Chapter 26: Off Kilter**

It had been a week since Lane left and Rory still missed her. She hadn't realized how much of her life she had left behind, and therefore missed, until her best friend came and left. Of course Lane had been in England for almost a week, so that had been good, but going to the airport to say goodbye had been hard. Tristan had received the best friend seal of approval and Lane had gotten along with all of Rory's friends as well so her trip here had been successful. Now Rory was just waiting for Lane to call her and let her know what happened when she called Dave—which Lane promised she would.

Now, however, Rory was leaving her last class of the day excited for an afternoon with the girls. It had been a while since they'd gotten to do some real female bonding and were planning on getting manicures and pedicures, doing home facials, pigging out on junk food, having a Johnny Depp marathon and, most importantly, ignoring any phone calls from people of the opposite sex.

"So Ella, I still haven't forgotten about the explaination of your relationship with Carter." Ella blushed at Rory's words. "You can stop with the innocent act too. First off, I'm your roommate and I know you're not innocent and secondly, I'm your roommate and I know things are good between you two, you can't deny you've officially gotten back together, now, as the girlfriends we are, we need to know the details."

"She's right you know," Belle chimed in. Katie and Abby nodded their heads in agreement.

Ella sighed. "I knew I wouldn't be able to hide from you guys forever, now is as good as a time as any other, I guess."

"There you go, that's the right attitude!" Abby said with a grin, causing everyone to laugh.

"Wait! Does everyone know the basis of why they broke up?" Rory asked the group at large.

"Well, no…" Katie said, rather reluctantly. None of them had really wanted to pry when things started going wrong between their friends.

"Then allow me to fill you in."

"Rory…" Ella warned.

"Don't worry, just a brief summary. So here it goes," she turned to her other friends who were anxiously awaiting the details. "Ella's parents came out here for Thanksgiving weekend; her mother had some problem with Carter and told him so. She managed to convince him that he wasn't good enough for her daughter, freaked Carter out and caused him to leave the 'family bonding weekend' early. Of course, he didn't talk to Ella about anything and the more time he spent alone and brooding about what Mrs. Ramsey had said the more he believed her words. He basically convinced himself that he wasn't good enough for Ella and wouldn't let her try and change his mind." Rory finished and looked at her friend. "Now why don't you tell us when everything changed?"

"Oh it's nothing big really," they all scoffed at this comment, "the other day I walked into Watson's," which was a little café by campus that everyone loved, "and there he was. I decided that he wouldn't make a scene in public so I would try to talk to him. I didn't want to give up on our relationship, I really like him, but I wasn't going to pine forever. So I went over to him, sat down, and forced him to talk. We managed to come to an agreement and I convinced him my mother is a hypocritical bitch that I would take care of myself and that we should give our relationship another try. He agreed and we're back together." She finished her story with a smile.

"That's it?" Katie asked, obviously disappointed.

"What do you mean that's it? I think that's quite enough! We've been miserable since December."

"Well we know _that_," Belle said, "but I just would have thought there would have been something bigger or more romantic to bring you guys back together. That all sounds, well, dull."

Rory laughed. "You are all unbelievable."

"Thank you," Abby said with a grin. "So everything is good with you guys?" She turned her attention back to Ella.

"I hope so."

"What about your mom?" Rory questioned, knowing that sticky situations with moms could be rough.

Ella sighed. "We got into an argument the other night," she confided. "You were out with Tristan, which is why you didn't hear," she explained when she saw Rory's confused look. "It wasn't pretty, but I wouldn't back down. She apparently doesn't think he can keep me in lifestyle I've become accustomed. I told her she was a hypocrite considering she hates the way that we live and that started an entirely new argument."

"That sucks, I'm sorry." Rory gave her a sympathetic look. "I've been there."

"I know."

"You have?" Katie asked completely surprised by this small bit of Rory's life. No one really knew anything about her life before Oxford other then the small pieces she let slip every now and then and they all knew better then to ask. It was a silent understanding between them all that no one would bring up Rory's "former" life without her starting the conversation because every conversation about America ended up in her storming out of the room. Even when Rory started talking about her prior life it ended with her leaving.

"Yeah. So…facials?" Rory wanted to turn the topic away from her and life in America.

"Yes, but don't think you're getting off so easy Miss Rory," Belle said firmly.

"What are you talking about?" She turned to look at her friend with an extremely confused expression.

"Don't think you'll get out of this girl's outing without talking about Tristan. You need to spill girl!" The girls all laughed but they knew it was true. Rory was really the only one in an extremely serious relationship and there had been far too few girls only evenings for them to gossip. "So…talk!" Abby was in the kitchen pulling out the facial masks they had mixed together according to some magazine article and put in the refrigerator to meld together the ingredients.

"About what?"

"You and Tristan! Duh!" Abby answered

Rory laughed. "What exactly do you want to know?" She wouldn't just randomly start spouting things off about her relationship with Tristan, after all, she didn't even know where to start!

"Have you guys slept together?" Ella asked bluntly.

"What?" Rory looked at her roommate completely shocked.

"You live with her and they're always at your dorm, shouldn't you know if they're doing it?" Belle pointed out.

"They could just be really quiet," Ella said with a shrug.

"Does Tristan strike you as the quiet type?"

The girls all laughed while Rory blushed. "Well no, but Rory could be occupying his mouth otherwise."

"And you know what they say," Abby began, "the quiet ones are always the loudest in bed." Rory couldn't believe the conversation that was going on around her as she stared at her friends. They were talking about her sex life like they knew what it entailed. Instead of saying anything, however, she just started gooping the facial mixture on her face, trying to ignore them.

"Don't think this goop is going to get you out of answering."

"How is my sex life any of your business?" Rory questioned.

"Oh hush, you know it's important. You know that girls talk about this stuff. So talk!"

"We're not sleeping together," she told them.

"What? You're not?" The girls seemed genuinely surprised over that.

"Yeah…why?"

"I just don't see Tristan as the kind of guy who could really go without sex," Abby told her, slightly embarrassed to admit it but willing to speak her mind amongst her friends—even if one of them was dating the man in question.

Rory shrugged. "He seems to be dealing with it okay."

"Okay."

"What are you insinuating?" Rory asked, immediately going on the defense.

"Don't let your mind wander like that," Ella tried to calm her friend down, "Tristan would never cheat on you. He loves you."

"Oh! I wasn't trying to insinuate he was cheating on you!" Katie immediately added, feeling awful that Rory though that's what she meant. "I've known Tristan for two years and I've never seen him the way he is when he's with you…of course unless he was talking about his Mary. There may have been a few girls here and there but nothing like the way he is with you. I swear he doesn't even notice any other female besides you…even when you're not with him."

Rory gave her a tight smile. "I'm glad to hear it. He's something special."

"As long as you know it," Abby said.

"And remember it," Belle added.

"He really has a fan club, doesn't he?" Rory asked; it was more of a rhetorical question then anything else.

"We care about him."

"I know you do. I do too."

"We know that but…"

"But what…" Once again Rory was getting defensive, not liking where the conversation seemed to be going.

"You're obviously going through a lot right now Rory and while we're glad you and Tristan found each other and we're happy that you two are so good for each other, we don't want to see him hurt. He loves you Rory; maybe he hasn't said it, but we know it. And that love blinds him. I just don't want to find out that you're using him to put yourself back together and once you finally get your life settled you'll drop him.'

Rory stared at Abby completely unsure of what she should say. So instead she silently got up and went into the bathroom to wash her face. Making sure the mask was completely off, she went back into the living room where all the girls were waiting expectantly for her return, not sure what would happen next. No one had expected the night to go like this, they weren't planning on finding out Rory's "intentions" towards Tristan but it just turned out to go that way. Now though, they were just scared they had hit a nerve. The only one that could deal with Rory when she got like this was Tristan and they were a little afraid of his reaction if he found out what they said to her.

"Look, I get that you're just looking out for Tristan. I understand that you care about him and you don't want to see him get hurt. I know I come with a lot of baggage, especially at this point in my life, but realize he has just as much. Maybe Tristan is more open with you about his life then I am, but there is still a lot of stuff about him you don't get. He tells you stories and laughs a lot of stuff off but he tells me the important stuff. He tells me what military school really did to him, he tells me what made him change, how he forced himself to become a better person. We have a much deeper relationship then any of you really think.

"Obviously you think I'm some little girl who needs to lean on some big strong man to get her life together, and let me tell you, I'm not. I'm Lorelai Victoria Gilmore's daughter and can be more independent then you could ever imagine. So before you start worrying that I'm going to break Tristan's heart you better think twice. I'm NOT who you apparently think I am. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I've worn out my welcome." Slipping on her shoes and grabbing her coat, Rory left Abby's dorm and headed outside, unsure of where to go now. She pulled out her phone and minute later, however, and dialed a semi-familiar number.

"Hello?" The feminine voice answer and almost brought Rory to tears.

"Steph?" She said softly, unsure why it was so loud on the other end. "If I'm interrupting I can just call back.

"Rory?" The girl questioned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, really, I just wanted to talk to a girl and I know I can't get a hold of Lane right now." Her best friend was staying with Mama Kim again and that meant calling at 1am EST would not be appreciated unless someone had died.

"Hold on, give me a minute." The noise on the other end lessened and Rory figured her friend went into another room. "What's up?"

"I don't know…I got into a fight with the girls here. How come I can't be friends with girls?'

"You're friends with me."

"Yeah, but that took a really long time. We only became friends, real friends, these past couple of months,"

"Okay, well forget about all of that. You called me because you needed a friend and I'm here. So talk."

"Do you think I'm using Tristan?"

"What?" Stephanie couldn't believe Rory was asking her this. "Why would you think that? You don't know how to use people!"

"That's what I've always thought but the girls here are afraid I'm using Tristan to find a part of myself I lost after everything happened in May. They don't even know all of the details and they're holding it against me!" Rory sat down on the first bench she could find in order to cry over the phone to her fiend.

"Rory, listen to me, okay? Are you listening?" She had a no-nonsense tone to her voice and Rory knew to take her words seriously.

"Yes," she sniffed a bit, and was trying to bite back the tears that were forming.

"You are not using Tristan. I've seen you, I've talked to him, I saw you two together before you left for school again after Thanksgiving. I've heard stories from Finn. I know you. We may not be best friends, but you dated one of my best friends for six months, I know a few things about you okay? You're not using Tristan, and if you were Tristan would know and he would break up with you. But that's not going to happen, okay?"

"How do you know that? How do you know that he won't find some other girl that's willing to put out when I won't?"

"Excuse me? Did you just say you're afraid Tristan is going to break up with you because you're not having sex?" She definitely didn't think Tristan was that kind of guy but if she was wrong then it made Tristan completely NOT worth Rory's time.

"No! It's not that. I don't think Tristan would break up with me over sex or force me into anything but these girls…"

"I don't think you should be friends with these girls anymore," Steph advised.

"Trust me, they aren't high on my list of friends right now."

"Good. Now tell me what they said."

"They said that Tristan didn't seem like the kind of guy who could go without sex and that…well…he could find it if he wanted to. Well they didn't say that second part so much as they insinuated that he's not really okay with us not having sex."

"I see what you're saying but Rory, no matter what else is going on with you and no matter how much he's helping, if he's going to pressure you for sex or cheat on you or break up with you over it then he hasn't changed the way you think he has."

"I know that," she answered slowly. "But I also know that he's okay with us not having sex; of course I'm sure he _wants_ to but he's not pressuring me or cheating on me or breaking up with me over it. You know?"

"I know. Is this helping?" Steph asked, not used to being a 'girl friend' since all of her friends were guys.

"It is," Rory assured her. "I know you don't have many girl friends Steph, but you're being really good about this."

The blonde laughed. "Thanks. You know, I actually learned all this from the guys. They've always been there for me, they're older brothers that I can talk to."

"Except for Colin," Rory said with a laugh.

Steph sighed. 'Yes, except for Colin. So you're sure that you're alright?"

"I think I am."

"Do you have someone else to hang out with? And not Tristan and his guy friends, cause it sounds like if you were having a girls' night they had a guys night and you don't want to answer his questions. He knows you, he'll see you're upset and ask questions. And when he can't get them he'll go to the girls since you were with them."

"You're right about that."

"I know I am, I always am." Rory laughed. "So do you have someone else to hang out with?" Steph asked seriously.

"I do."

"Good. Go there now. Hang out with them, don't talk about this stuff unless you really want to, just have a genuinely good time. And don't worry if you just want to hang out with some guys, just do it."

"Yes ma'am."

"Hey! I'm still a spring chicken!" Steph insisted.

"You realize that's a phrase my grandmother and her D.A.R. friends use, right?"

Steph growled at her. "Shut up Gilmore!" Rory just continued laughing. "Rory? Do you want me to come out there? I can bring Honor. I told you that we could take her family plane any time we needed to, and I meant it. Hell, I'll even fly commercial for you."

Rory gasped. "Commercial? Wow, do I really sound that upset?" She was taking the long way to Eli and Addison's room.

"Somewhat, I just want you to know that I'd be there if you wanted me to."

"Thanks Steph. You really are a good friend. I'm at my friend's dorm now. I'm going to go. Thanks for everything."

"Anytime girlie."

"Rory? Are you okay?" Eli answered the door and stared at his obviously upset friend.

"Good night Steph, tell Finn and Colin hello for me."

"Will do. I'm sure you'll hear from Finn soon."

"I know. And I love him for it." Rory knew the minute Finn found out she had been upset and called Steph he would be on the phone calling her to make sure everything was really alright and he didn't have to fly out there and beat Tristan to a pulp. "Good night."

"Night."

Rory hung up the phone and looked at her friend. "Sorry about that. Am I interrupting?"

"Not really, come on in." Eli moved away from the door to allow Rory in and looked over at his friends. "We've got some company!" He announced and the guys cheered.

Rory looked around and saw Benji, Tyler and three other guys she didn't know sitting around a poker table while watching some sporting event on television. "You're having a guys night, I'm sorry!"

"Be quiet Gilmore, we're happy to have you" Tyler said while he grinned at her.

"Matt, Evan, this is Rory Gilmore. Rory these are some of our other friends Matt and Evan."

"Nice to meet you, I really am sorry to intrude."

"Don't worry about it. It's nice to meet the infamous Rory Gilmore," Evan said while throwing her a grin.

"Wow, that doesn't sound good." She smiled at the guys and took Eli's seat once she noticed he went to get another chair. "What are you playing?" She looked around the table and noticed that they were involved in a game of Texas Hold 'Em.

"Poker. You want to play?" Matt asked.

"Do you know how to play?" Benji questioned.

Rory thought back to those endless games Logan played and how he actually began to teach her once she became his good luck charm. After all, if she was brining him luck she wanted to understand the game. Hoping that she was suppressing her grin Rory nodded her head. "I've played once or twice with my Dad but we played for candy."

"You want to try a few rounds with the big guys?" Benji said with a grin. He wouldn't take her money but it would be fun to include her. They played a few hands open and it seemed that Rory was catching on although she wasn't really that good at the game.

"Let's play a closed hand," she suggested.

"Are you sure you're ready for that?" Eli asked.

"I think so." Rory made sure her voice sounded confident but slightly worried at the same time.

"Okay, but we won't make the stakes high."

Rory nodded her consent and made sure she only won one or two rounds out of the next dozen or so they played allowing the guys to see that she understood the game and could play on her own. Eventually, however, they got back to their normal speed and high stakes and were taken aback by Rory's skill.

"You're a shark!" Evan exclaimed after he'd lost almost 75 quid to Rory.

"What?" Rory looked at him with her wide eyes.

"Don't even try those eyes out on me!" He declared. "You knew how to play all along, didn't you?" Rory said nothing but her grin gave her away. "You little sneak!" Rory just laughed and played another three hands before calling it a night and collapsing on the couch. "Can I stay tonight Eli?" She asked from her spot.

"Of course…but you don't want to spend the night with Tristan?" He knew they usually spent the night together…even if it was a girls' night/guys night situation he expected they would still end up in the same bed.

Rory shrugged although her friend couldn't really see her. "I just want a little space. Are you sure it's okay?"

"I'm sure Rory don't worry."

"What about Addy?"

"What about him?"

"He won't be upset?"

Eli laughed. "He loves you. I wouldn't worry about. He's at Tristan's guys night so who knows when he'll roll in tonight."

"Addy?" Matt asked with a laugh.

"She's the only one who gets away with calling him that," Tyler explained, "and he still corrects her every time, Rory just ignores it."

"I ignore Finn after I call him Finny too, it's nothing personal." The guys laughed. "I'm putting in a movie," Rory declared before getting up and choosing something. She had just gotten comfortable on the couch when the front door opened, showing a slightly drunk Addison.

"Hey guys, having a good night?" He asked, closing the door and taking in the poker table. "You're still playing?"

"We're just finishing up this last hand," Benji told him, "then we're going home. Gilmore cleaned us out."

"Gilmore? Rory's here?" He looked around confused since he hadn't seen her earlier. "I thought she was with the girls…"

"She may have been, but she showed up hours ago, hustled us out of some money, and is laying on the couch watching a movie I'm sure one of the girls left here," Eli explained.

Addison looked over at the couch and saw the girl in question. "Nice greeting there Ror."

"Thanks Addy. Have fun tonight?" She laughed as he winced at her nickname.

"Yes, we did, thanks. I take it that things didn't go as well for you?" Rory shook her head, afraid that saying something would cause the tears to rise again. She wasn't ready to rehash the night. "You could have crashed our night you know," he told her sincerely.

"I know and thanks," she smiled at him, "but showing up at your night would have started the questioning and when I would refuse to answer, then you'd go to the girls and everyone would have a crappy night and I didn't want that. So I came here. Not realizing I was interrupting a guys night too, but winning a buttload of money."

"Seriously Gilmore, the things you say sometimes," Tyler called form his seat at the table before folding. "I'm going home, I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast okay?" He said to the guys and then looked at Rory. "You come too, okay? It'll be the whole gang." Rory nodded and he leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Let me know if you need anything."

"We can take care of her, you know," Addison insisted.

"I know." He smiled at her again and left. The same thing happened with Benji and even Evan and Matt who barely knew her but could see she was upset.

"Hopefully we'll see you around campus more," Matt said as the two left the dorm. "Later guys."

Eli was cleaning up the living room while Addison sat down on the couch, placing Rory's head on his lap instead of the couch and stroking her hair. "I know you don't want to talk about it but I'm assuming it had something to do with your relationship with Tristan. Don't worry about it though, okay? It'll all work out."

Rory smiled up at him. "Thanks Addy, you're a good friend." She turned her attention back to the movie and eventually the sounds combined with the comforting gesture of him stroking her hair allowed her to fall into a peaceful slumber.

**GGGGGGG**

"Remind me why we're up so early?" Rory complained as she headed to the "diner" close to campus with Addison and Eli to meet up with the others.

"Because brunch happens before 4pm," Eli told her, AGAIN.

"Whatever." It was 1:30pm and Rory was annoyed to be awake. She could have slept for another few hours, she felt like she needed it, but the others wouldn't hear of it. They arrived at the diner to find everyone else was already there and waiting for them.

"Rory! This is a surprise!" Lucy called out as she sat down inbetween the two guys.

"Is it okay?" She was nervous that they would mind her interrupting.

"Of course it is!" Jackie reassured her.

They got into a conversation about the previous night's activities with the guys going into detail of how Rory hustled them in poker and Addison talking about his night with the guys. A night that consisted of drinking at the pub and checking out the girls, rating them on a sluttiness scale; of course that also translated into a scale of one to ten on how willing one of them would be willing to date a girl that slutty. It seemed as if it was an amusing way to spend time at the pub and had everyone laughing. The girls too had interesting stories, but of course half of which they wouldn't share because it was confidential girl stuff that the guys were disappointed over.

They finished eating close to four o'clock and were headed back to campus when Rory heard her phone beep signaling that she had missed a call. Without bothering to see who had called, hoping it was Tristan and figuring it was probably either him or one of the girls—most likely one of the girls—she dialed her voicemail. Rory listened to the message carefully, completely surprised at the voice and then hit the number four to have it repeat before stopping in her tracks to really pay attention this time.

**GGGG**

Lorelai woke up Saturday morning and sighed. She'd had Rory's phone number for almost three weeks and hadn't called. Of course she had gotten close to calling but those last two or three digits always gave her a problem. She was so afraid that Rory would yell or hang up or even worse just not pick up that she couldn't do it. Eventually though, with a lot of coaxing from Luke, and having Luke dial all of the numbers and wait to see if she picked up Lorelai decided to leave her a message.

"Hey kid, it's me…your mom. I'm not sure if you didn't pick up because you saw it was me, which I wouldn't blame you for, or if you're out with your friends and didn't hear your phone but here I am calling and leaving a message. It's taken me a really long time to dial all these numbers, Luke actually had to do it for me because I was too nervous so I understand if it takes you a while to call me back but I wanted to put this call out there. I called your grandmother for your number and she was surprised but I figured she would have told you I asked for it so this call shouldn't really come from complete left field…oh boy, I hope I got that sports reference right. I'll have to ask Luke later. Anyway kid, I just…I needed to hear your voice and talk to you…we have a lot to talk about you and I. It's time we both grow up, don't you think? Anyway, if you want to talk, I'll be here. The numbers haven't changed but in case you've forgotten them, the house is 860-798-4562; my cell is 860-998-4231; the inn is 860-798-5522; and Luke's is 860-798-2112. I can be reached at any of those places so if can't find me at one please keep trying until you can find me. We really need to talk. I miss you kid…a lot. I love you."

She hung up the phone and looked over at Luke, tears running down her face. "I hope she calls."

"She will Lore, she will. She misses you too." Luke pulled her into her arms and held her tight, hoping that his words weren't empty.

**GGGG**

"Rory?" Lucy looked back when she noticed they were missing her. "Are you okay?" She saw her friend staring at her cell phone in complete shock while tears fell down her cheeks. "Is everyone at home okay?"

"What?" Rory looked up and noticed her friends were all staring at her, very concerned.

"Are you okay?" Addison came over to her and put an arm around her shoulder, slightly worried her legs wouldn't support her.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just…I need to go. Everyone's fine, don't worry, everyone's fine. I just…I need to go. I have to get a cab." She turned towards the front entrance of school.

"Come on, we'll go get you one." Addison led her to the front of the campus with their friends following, everyone equally worried. They got her into a black cab and once more he tried to find out what was going on. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want us to get Tristan to go with you?"

Rory shook her head quickly. "No, no. I'm fine, I don't need Tristan. I just need a little time to myself. Tell him I'm fine. I'll call him soon. Thanks again guys." She closed the door and gave the driver an address making sure her friends couldn't hear.

"Are you sure miss? That's quite a distance, it'll be expensive."

"That's fine, I just need to get there." It was a spot where no one else would look for her. And being alone is really what she needed right now.


	27. Crossroads

**AN:** Well apparently I gave you all quite a cliffhanger on the last chapter…it wasn't intentional, I promise! Hopefully, you'll enjoy this one as much. Consider it my present since the Phillies made it to the post-season for the first time in 14 years!!!

**---------**

**Chapter 27: Crossroads**

For what had to be the 20th time in the past day and a half Rory replayed her mother's message. She was hiding out in her great-grandmother's house, which no one knew about, trying to figure out when she would call her mother and what she should say. Tristan had called once an hour and Rory would pick up, tell him she was fine and then hang up. She had no idea if he knew what caused her to leave or if he had found out what happened during the girls' night but at this moment she didn't care.

So far she had only gotten the courage to call Lane, but she knew it was time to get another opinion, and some more encouragement as well. Everything Lane had said was beginning to loose its effect. Picking up her phone and dialing Rory waited for her father to pick up.

"Hello?" His voice instantly comforted her.

"Hi Daddy."

"Hey Ror! How are you?" Christopher was happy to hear from his daughter, it had been a while since they'd spoken.

"I'm okay," she said slowly.

"Uh-oh, that wasn't too convincing, what happened? Are you okay? Is Tristan okay?"

"He's fine. I just…well…mom called me." Rory spit the words out, knowing that dragging the conversation out would be worthless.

"She did." Christopher wasn't surprised. Lorelei had called him two days before she called Rory and immediately after. She had been nervous about calling and needed reassurance that her daughter didn't hate her. Lorelei didn't want to call if Rory was going to laugh and hang up on her. It took him three hours to convince her that Rory would never do something like that. This was a roadblock in their relationship, that was it, and Rory knew that as well as Lorelei did. He was sure of that. And of course Lorelei needed to be calmed down after she got Rory's voicemail.

"You knew she was going to?" Rory didn't know why it surprised her, her parents were still close; particularly when it was about her, but it did. She didn't think her father was the biggest fan of her mother in this particular situation.

Christopher sighed. He didn't know if Rory would be upset over hearing that he and Lorelei had not only been speaking but speaking about her but he wouldn't hide it. "She was nervous about calling you. She misses you kid, a lot."

"I know," Rory said softly. "I miss her too." It was the first time she had told someone that out loud; she knew everyone assumed that she did but she had never actually told anyone as much. "It's just…weird. I don't know what to say."

"She doesn't know what to say either," he tried to reassure her.

"But if I call I need a game plan. I don't have a game plan."

"You can't plan every moment of your life out, Rory. You should understand that by now."

And she did. Boy did she. "I don't expect to have a master plan, but just a game plan."

"How about your game plan is calling? Saying hello? Letting her know that you're not angry. You don't know what to say; you're disappointed in her and you're disappointed in yourself but you're not willing to let that stand between you two any longer."

"This is the same speech you gave her isn't it?" Rory could tell. She and Lorelai were so much alike she just knew her father had uttered those words before."

"Like mother, like daughter," he said hesitantly.

"Some people would say we're all made in god's image, but me, I'm made in my mother's image." She laughed slightly, having just realized the irony herself.

"You certainly have been molded to your mother's image," Chris agreed, "but you are your own person as well. She's proud of you for both of those reasons and so much more. Of course she loves that you're so much like her but she also loves that you're not. It's weird for her to see you get along in your grandparent's world in a way that she never did and never can but she's proud of you for it as well. It takes time for her to accept big changes like this. The only big change she had to grasp at once was you. But after you were born all other changes needed to be slow. It took her a year to run away after all, you know."

"I know." Rory smiled slightly. She knew how hard it had been for her mother to leave the comfort of her grandparent's house. Of course her mother had always _wanted_ to leave but knowing she would be taking her little girl away from such basic necessities and a life of guaranteed comfort was difficult as well. Lorelai had always wanted to make it on her own and had always believed in herself but she suddenly had to consider another person's life and it made decisions twice as hard to make causing plans to take twice as long to execute.

"Is this helping?" Her father asked after a prolonged silence over the phone.

"It is," she told him. "But I should go now, I need to think some more."

"You'll call her?" He prodded.

"Eventually," Rory agreed with a nod.

"Sooner than later, yeah? Putting off the inevitable only makes it harder in the end."

"I know."

"I love you."

"I love you." Rory hung up the phone and took a breath before dialing again.

"Will you please tell me where you are?" Tristan said in lieu of a proper greeting when he saw Rory's phone number come up.

"I'm in the country, I'm safe, I'm sorry, that's all I can tell you."

"Why? I promise not to come after you if that's really what you want, I'll respect your privacy but I'll feel better if I know where you are. What if something happens to you? What if I can't get to you then?" Tristan had been worried sick ever since he had found out she left the girls' night two nights ago. His worry only increased when the others reported that she rushed off into a cab to some unknown location after checking her voicemail.

"I know you won't come after me but I promise you nothing is going to happen to me. I just need to have some time to myself. It's not about you or your friends or my friends, it's just about me and needing some me time."

Tristan heard her words---all of her words and they worried him. She was separating out his friends and her friends. Something had happened at that girls' night and while none of the girls would give him details he now had his suspicions confirmed. They said something to upset her and she wasn't going to accept them too easily. Rory didn't make friends so easily, something about her "nerdish" qualities that turned people off. She came off as an introvert but once you got to know her she was quite the extrovert. After everything that had happened back home her introverted qualities came out heavily and it took a lot to get her out of her shell; the girls must have said something to her that really hit a nerve. She wouldn't run away, especially run away and not talk to him, unless it was something painful. And apparently it was, she went to people who were "loyal" to her more than him and wouldn't let him help her now. "I can give you that time while knowing where you are, I'm worried Rory." He used her name hoping that would convince her he was being serious.

"I'm sorry Tris, please don't worry too much." She felt awful doing this to him but he couldn't be there always. Rory needed to go back to being Rory and not some dependent girl.

"What happened the other night Rory?" He wouldn't revert back to her nickname until he was positive everything was okay.

"What do you mean?" Immediately Rory was more cautious then she had been. Tristan was calling her by her name, which was extremely weird, but she realized until she stopped acting "different" in his eyes, she would be called by a "different" name. Now, however, he was asking questions about the girls' night. He wanted to know what his friends had said to upset her. And he'd probably picked up when she'd separated out his friends and her fiends because that's what they felt like right now. Those girls had attacked her "intentions" and questioned her loyalty, calling her selfish without even mentioning the words because it hurt. Everyone was constantly picking her apart it seemed she was never quite enough.

"Don't play that game with me. While Addison's friends are more loyal to you then me I do know that you went there during what should have been your girls' night. Apparently you didn't want to ruin _my_ boys night so you went over there."

Rory sighed. "It wasn't choosing them over you Tristan. I just wanted you to have a good time with the guys, I didn't know that they were having a boys night. I tried to leave…"

"But instead you hustled them in poker?" He asked with a laugh.

"Is it my fault they didn't ask me if I knew how to play?"

"I think they said they did Rory…"

Rory laughed as she thought back to the evening. "Oh yeah…I guess they did…my bad."

Tristan couldn't stop his laughter. "At least I know you're not really upset." Instantly she was quiet, her thoughts having been brought back to the reason they were apart at this moment. "Shit, I had distracted you for a while, huh? And now you're back to thinking about whatever has got you so far away from me."

"Don't be upset with me Tristan, please." Rory pleaded with him, having no way to deal with her life if he was really upset with her.

"I'm not upset with you Rory," he reassured her, "I'm just worried. I wish you would tell me where you are." _Although this is the longest conversation I've had with you in almost two days and if I had smarter friends then I would be able to track you to your location right now. But alas, I'll have to wait for your return._ "You're coming back tomorrow night, aren't you?" He asked, sure she'd return for class.

"I'll be back for classes," Rory reassured him. It was also his birthday next week and she wouldn't miss that for the world. She was planning something big.

"Good. You'll stay with me." He knew she wouldn't want to stay in her room anyway, but Tristan wouldn't have her out of his sight right now. Even if she wouldn't say it Tristan knew she was going through something big and he wanted to help her however he could.

"That sounds like a plan," Rory agreed. "I should really go now Tris, I just wanted to let you know that I was okay and you can stop worrying and plotting. Nothing happened, I just needed some time. There's a lot going on right now and I just…"

"I know babe, I know. You just keep checking in, okay?" He knew she was on some family property somewhere but since Rory didn't sound like she was having a full mental breakdown right now he wasn't going to track Richard and Emily down and get a list of all the places she could be hiding.

"I will. I'll talk to you soon."

"Be safe Rory."

"You too Tris." Rory hung up the phone softly and laid back on the sofa. She had a lot of thinking to do.

**GGGG  
**

Tristan sighed as he hung up his cell phone. After staring at it for a few minutes, he pushed himself off the bed and back into the common room where all his friends were settled.

"Everything okay man?" Carter asked, his arm around Ella. Since they had officially gotten back together moods had been lifted throughout the group.

"Just dandy," he answered sarcastically.

"She still won't tell you where she is?" Addison asked, equally as worried about Rory. Although everyone was worried about Rory running off like that it seemed that the girls were more concerned about getting in trouble for something—although no one seemed to know what. The only ones worried on the level of Tristan were Eli and his whole group. Rory had become another member of the crew, unlike it seemed, with Tristan's friends where she was just Tristan's girlfriend. It seemed to Addison that someone had actually made that clear to Rory and she had snapped---sending her to his and Eli's room the other evening.

"No. She insists that she's fine and she sounds okay, but I'm still worried. A lot of shit had to happen for her to run off like that—without telling me she was going or where she was going or asking me to come with."

"You can't _always_ be her knight in shining armor Tris," Belle gave her input. "She has to be her own person eventually."

Tristan scoffed. "You really don't know her that well, do you?" He said, not truly paying attention to the meaning behind his friend's words. "Rory doesn't _need _a knight in shining armor. She is the most independent person I know. Her mother is Lorelai Gilmore for heaven's sake! But every now and then everyone needs someone to lean on and to help them through a hard time. This is Rory's now and then. And luckily I'm the person who can help her. I can help her for reasons I don't expect any of you to understand nor am I going to take the time explain. There's something between me and Rory that you obviously haven't picked up on even after all these months, but it's there. And it's not going anywhere. I knew from the moment I set eyes on her when I was 16 that she was someone special and if I ever got her to agree to be with me that I would do anything not to screw it up."

"Even sacrifice yourself?" Katie asked.

He looked at her curiously. "What exactly are you implying? That I've changed myself completely to be with her? She's making me someone you don't like?"

"No! Not at all!" She insisted. "All I'm saying is that you _have_ changed since she came into the picture."

"Most people are saying it's a good change," Tristan defended.

"And it is."

"Then why are we arguing about this?"

"We're not arguing with you Tris," Abby added in, "we're only trying to talk to you about your relationship. We don't really have a lot of time to talk to you without Rory around."

"That upsets you, doesn't it?" He did spend a lot of time with Rory but most of that time was spent in a group. The couple really didn't spend too much time alone.

"It's not that it upsets us, we just don't want you to be compromising yourself for her."

He thought about what his friends were saying…well, what his girl friends were saying and then looked at Ella. "And what do you think?" Tristan had had some similar conversation with his guy friends the past couple of months but they had ended well, whereas this conversation seemed as if it would get worse before it got better.

"I think that you two are good for each other. I saw her in the beginning when she was a shell of a person. Ever since she started hanging out with you she's come out of that shell. When you can get her to talk about her life before England she's even more amazing then she normally is. Rory's great. I love her. I swear it. She's good for you too. From what I hear you were quite the playboy before you met her, although it does seem as if you were just waiting for her to come back into your life. Like I said, you're good for each other."

Tristan smiled weakly at her. "Thanks for that. I'm glad you see it the way I do, the way she does."

"I see it that way too!" Carter defended. "But I would have worded it in a much more manly way!"

"I know man, I know." Tristan nodded at him. "But you three don't seem to agree with the others. Or does this include you boys too?" He looked at Tim and Jasper knowing how Addison felt about Rory.

"We've all discussed this before, remember?" Tim said bluntly. "We listed our concerns, you countered them and we accepted that. Until we see a real reason why you two shouldn't be together we're happy for you." Jasper nodded.

"Good." Katie scoffed and Tristan turned his attention back to her. "So it seems it's just you three girls that have a problem with me and Rory…or more accurately Rory, so care to share?" He watched them, waiting for something.

"I just don't…we don't…"

"Spit it out."

"She may not be right for you," Abby finished in the most polite way she could think of.

"And why is that?" Tristan was curious now. Who could be better for him?

"We're just not sure. She's needy Tris, you need someone stronger, your life requires someone stronger. You need someone that won't break the minute something goes wrong with life."

"So she's not strong enough?" He was surprised at this, Rory was one of the strongest people he knew. "She had a rough time at home, hasn't been speaking to her mother and best friend since May; she moved across the country in August and has been trying to piece her life back together. But just because she won't tell you every stitch of her past or give you all the details of our relationship you don't think she's strong enough. Because she needs someone, namely me, to be there to hold her hand for a while she's wrong for me, right? She could never deal with my life? Well you'd be surprised my friends, you'd be quite surprised. You should be ashamed of yourselves. All of you." None of them seemed to be moved by his speech and then it hit him. "You said something to her, didn't you? You bitches actually said something along those lines to her? What else did you throw in her face?"

"We didn't throw anything in her face!" Belle defended. "We like Rory. We're just looking out for you."

"She left you guys, spent the night with Addison and Eli and their friends and then disappeared for an entire weekend; I don't think that has her thinking you all like her."

"We were just looking out for you!" Katie repeated.

Ella scoffed and Katie glared at her but Tristan turned towards the girl. "Yes? Would you like to add something?"

"These girls are all worried about your sex life. When they tried to get the gossip about you and Rory and Rory said there was nothing really to share they started hounding her. Apparently with your reputation you can't go without sex. They made her think that you were cheating on her or something." At the scared look on Tristan's face Ella immediately stood and got his attention. "Don't worry she didn't believe them for more than a second and I told her otherwise in case she did. She didn't leave upset with you, just hurt that they would think that. Rory realized they weren't really her friends."

"That's not true!" Abby exclaimed.

"Good luck getting her to believe that," Tristan replied.

"What do you mean?" For the first time the girl looked worried.

"She's sorted people out by my friends and her friends; although I can't say I want to be friends with you that much longer. I thought you knew me better than this."

**GGGGGG**

Rory called Tristan because she was in need of a distraction, a big distraction, and he happily gave her one without even knowing it. She had been thinking about his birthday a lot and had already changed her mind and cancelled reservations at different places across the country multiple times. She was really unsure of what would be the best thing to do for him, since he could really do whatever he wanted so she tried to think of what he would have _never _done. Things that she had done as a child and taken for granted were the things that Logan and his friends had liked the best and Rory knew Tristan would appreciate them as well. Although she couldn't give him that full family feeling she'd be able to give him something. Realizing who the perfect person would be to help her out with her little planning dilemma Rory picked up the phone and waited for the other person to pick up

"You know, I'm a little hurt love."

"And why is that Finny?" Rory asked with a small laugh. She loved that her friends never picked up the phone with a simple hello.

"I hate that name!" He informed her, yet again, before answering her questions. "You called Steph the other night and didn't even ask to speak with me!"

She could see him pouting over the phone. "Sorry Finn, but I needed a female opinion."

"What? I don't give good advice? Don't I always give you a nice pedicure? Or I bet it's because I don't have the right pajamas, isn't it?"

Someone Finn always knew what to say to make her feel better and laugh. "That's it Finny, it's all because of the pajamas."

"That's what I thought!" He laughed before getting a bit more serious. "So what's the reason for _my_ impromptu call?"

"Well…Tristan's birthday is this week…"

"21?" Finn asked getting all excited.

"No, I'm the baby of the group, he's going to be 22."

Finn nodded. "Okay…"

"I don't know what to do! I want to throw him a party since I learned from all you guys that real birthday parties full of friends and gifts and cakes didn't exist when you were little, I just don't know where to take him! I've already cancelled reservations three times and it needs to be for this weekend!"

He laughed. "Have no fear my friend…have you ever heard of Madame Tussuads?"

"Oh Finny! That's perfect! I can rent it out! But wait…" Rory's voice fell. "How can I rent it out?" It wasn't an issue of money it was an issue of getting it for a private party.

"Have no fear, that's why you have friends with big names. I'll even get you all rooms at the family hotel."

"Really?" She paused for a minute before speaking her next thought. "I can't let you do that!"

"Why not? It's the best hotel in the city and I know you have your grandmother's apartment, but a hotel is still more fun! And this way you have nothing to worry about! I'll call you back with details." Finn hung up the phone, excited to be planning a party, since that was something he loved to do, even if it wasn't for him and he wouldn't be able to go—next weekend he had LDB plans.

As Finn was making plans so was Rory. Now that she knew the location she could put everything into place. Knowing that Carter would be with Tristan right now but still needing to talk to him, she dialed his number anyway, hoping that he wouldn't say her name.

"Hello?" Carter picked up having not looked at the caller id beforehand.

"Perfect," she responded. "Carter, it's Rory, please don't let anyone else in the room know it's me. Can you go into your room, or any quiet room where you'll be alone? I need to talk to you about next weekend.

"Sure, hold on a minute…"


	28. Diversion

**AN:** Just a warning, there is a bit of M rated material towards the end. Be forewarned. Secondly, please note that due to some reviews I have taken down all of my Sophie/Rogan stories. If you wish to continue reading them please go to the Illusive website. They will be continued there. Finally, please note that I do not hold the rights to the characters from the show, I only hold the rights to Rory's extended family, Tristan's family and anyone they meet up with in England. Enjoy the next chapter…this story is coming to a close soon.

**GGGGGG**

**Chapter 28: Diversion**

She had been back for two days already. Two days and there had been no comment as to what had happened the prior week/weekend. Rory wouldn't tell Tristan where she had been, she wouldn't tell him what had happened during girls' night [although he wouldn't say that he knew and she also was quite cold towards Katie, Abby and Belle but no one mentioned it. Much to Rory's approval, their nights were spent together in his room while their days were spent apart, both busy with different activities. Rory was busy planning his surprise party so she hadn't really pushed hanging out so much during the day.

"So, I figured we could go out for a quiet dinner just the two of us tomorrow, is that okay?" Rory asked Tuesday afternoon while they were hanging out at the pub with a few of the others.

"Yeah Rory, that's fine." He still hadn't called her Mary. It wasn't for a personal reason, but right now he felt she needed to know he was serious more than he was playing around.

She looked at him funny, wishing he would call her Mary. Rory never thought she would miss the nickname but not hearing it made her think he was mad at him. She tried brushing the thought away but by the way he was trying to catch her attention it wasn't working. "Hmm?" Rory blinked and looked at him as he glazed over eyes focused again. "I'm sorry, did I miss something?"

Tristan had watched as his previous answer forced Rory into some far off thoughts and thought once her eyes focused again that the teary look would go away but it didn't. And that worried him. "Are you okay? You look upset."

Instantly she sobered up, trying to force what must have been tears in her eyes to disappear. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she insisted. "Actually I need to go study for my English class, lots of reading and all. I need to get to the library. I'll talk to you later." Leaning over and giving him a fast kiss Rory pushed herself out of her chair and away from the pub. She just needed to get away. Thinking that Tristan could be upset with her because she needed to keep _something_ to herself was too much. She didn't know what to think. She had big plans for this weekend, even more than the actual party itself. She was planning on taking advantage of that hotel room—only now she was having second thoughts since Tristan seemed unhappy with her. Without getting enough time to analyze the situation Rory picked up her ringing phone. "Hello?" She answered distractedly.

"Are you okay?" The female voice asked her.

"I'm fine," she said with a heavy sigh.

"No you're not, come on, tell me."

"There's not a whole lot to tell."

"Well, that's a lie my dear, so just tell me."

Rory smiled at her cousin Chloe's knowing nature. There was something about her cousin, although15 years older, which made her so easy to talk to. They had become closer after the last visit and their phone calls more frequent. "There's just a lot going on here and I'm frustrated."

"Tell me," she prodded gently. Chloe adored her cousin. They had become close during the last visit to her home and Rory had told her the exact circumstances of her moving to England. Chloe thought the younger woman was very brave.

"It's just…well…my mom called me Friday night."

"What?" For all her high society breeding Chloe was still an American girl who moved to England, picked up the accent and married a Gilmore.

"She left me a message and before I got that message I had been at a girls' night with some of Tristan's girl friends who I thought were my friends but it turned out weren't."

"Hold on, let's start from the beginning okay?" And Rory started with the girls' night and ended with what happened tonight.

"I mean, logically I know that he's not really mad at me, he just feels left out. And I know that I can tell him what happened and I should tell him about the voicemail but I just can't. I don't want him to argue with his friends about me and for once I'd like to be able to handle a personal problem on my own."

"Problems like these cannot be taken on by just one person, love."

"I know that," Rory responded with a sigh, "I really do, but I'm talking to you now and I talked to my dad, I just…I don't want Tristan to think I'm only with him because I need the support."

"He loves you, he doesn't think that. He's probably more worried about you holding this back from him than anything else," Chloe reasoned with her.

"I know that, I do, I just…I want so much to be independent again."

"Once you're in love you loose some of that independence, it's just how it works."

"I wish it didn't."

"I know. What else is going on? Something else is bothering you.'

Rory was a bit worried about sharing the next part of her problem with her cousin but decided she needed to. "Well Saturday night is Tristan's birthday party."

"I know, you're so excited, it sounds like you'll have a great time."

She smiled, happy that her cousin thought it was such a good idea. "It will be, I'm sure of that. I just…well, I want to take things to the um, next level with Tristan."

Chloe thought about Rory's words for a minute before laughing. "Oh Rory dear, you're so sweet. You can say sex to me without me freaking out. You're 21 years old, it's normal."

"I know, but isn't it weird too?"

"Not really. So you want to have sex with Tristan?" Chloe asked. "Are you doing this because of what his friends said to you or because you want to?"

"It was a decision I made a while ago!" Rory insisted. "I wanted it to be a special night, not that any night it happened wouldn't become special, but you know what I mean. I want him to know I've thought about it and I'm not just rushing into anything."

"Has he pushed you?"

"Oh, never!" She reassured her. "He's never said anything to me about it actually, but I know he wants to. I mean, what normal man doesn't?"

"That's true," Chloe agreed. "So you're comfortable with the idea."

"I love him."

"Then what are you worried about?"

"If he's upset with me because of this whole weekend it's not going to be good. We're not arguing but if he continues to call me Rory…"

"You need to talk to him."

"I know."

"Do it now."

"I know."

"I'm serious."

"I know."

"Pick other words!" Chloe yelled, tired of hearing "I know" from her cousin.

"I love you and thank you."

"Anytime. I love you too."

Rory hung up the phone, feeling better about everything and knowing that as part of her present to Tristan she would tell him what happened this weekend, at least the phone call from her mother, at his birthday dinner tomorrow night.

**GGGG**

"What time are we going out tonight?" Tristan asked Rory as he left his final class of the afternoon. He, of course, had wanted to skip all of this classes because it _was_ his birthday but his studious girlfriend told him that he wouldn't get one single present from her if he did. And since he was so completely whipped, yes he admitted it [although he would only admit it to himself Tristan went to his classes and even took notes. He was down now however, and was dying to figure out what Rory had planned.

"Dinner's at seven and I'll be by around six, is that enough time?"

He had to laugh. It wasn't as if it took him all that long to get ready after all. It was now four o'clock; he could be ready to leave at 4:30 if it was required. "Of course I can be. I'm not you after all. Are you sure _you_ have enough time?"

Rory growled into the phone. "I made the plans. I know what they are. I'll be by to pick you up around six."

"Why can't I just come and get you?" He was still uncomfortable with Rory coming to pick him up for their dinner date.

"Because it's your birthday silly, and you don't pick me up on your birthday. I know, I know," she cut him off before he could even reply, "it's strange for the girl to be picking the guy up, but I'm you're girlfriend so it shouldn't be all that strange. Just deal with it. I'll see you in two hours!" Without waiting for him to respond Rory hung up the phone and put her full attention back on making sure everything was perfect for this evening.

Two hours later found Tristan opening his door to his girlfriend, a smile on his face. "Why don't you look beautiful."

Rory blushed; no matter how many times he complimented her Tristan could always make her blush. "Thank you. You look quite dashing yourself, are you ready?"

He couldn't resist the grin that came across his features. Tristan loved that she would still blush over the simplest of compliments. It didn't require much to make her happy, to make her smile and that was a relief to him. All of the years spent around girls who could only be happy with material objects, who could live with a fake marriage, who didn't care which man their parents pawned them off to as long as they got a financially secure lifestyle had jaded him slightly but the past few months with Rory had fixed that. He loved how the simplest thing like a bouquet of flowers could make her happy. "All set Rory, see you later!" He called into the common room where Ella and Carter were watching a movie.

"Have fun!"

"Be careful!" They called out, laughing at how parental they sounded. "And don't stay out too late!" Ella called out.

"Call if you are going to be any later then one!" Carter added.

"That was pushing it!" Tristan called out as he closed the door behind himself and took Rory's hand. "So where are we going?" He assumed it was someplace quite far from campus since they were leaving an hour before their reservations.

"To dinner," Rory answered with a shrug. "Come on, Toby's waiting." She led him towards the designated pick up area and smiled at Toby when she saw him waiting. Once they were settled into the car and Toby was on his way Rory turned her attention to him. "So, are you having a good birthday?"

"No complaints as of yet," he answered with an easy smile.

"Not even that I made you go to class," Rory pointed out with a raised eye brow.

"You didn't _make_ me do anything," Tristan tried to tell her.

"Right, I'm sure I didn't."

"I resent that!"

Rory's only response was laughter but once she stopped she looked at him seriously. "Tristan?"

"Hm?" He had been thinking about how this birthday definitely ranked up there and all they weren't even at the restaurant yet.

"Are you upset that we're not having dinner with everyone else?" It had been bothering her for a few days but she tried to ignore it. Rory had wanted to spend a little time with him since the weekend would be spent partying with everyone else so she thought a quiet dinner would be nice. And though she knew that he was happy to spend time with her, Rory was still nervous about his true feelings.

"Of course not," he answered immediately. "I'm always happy to spend time with you, you know that."

"I do," she said with a nod, "but it is your birthday. Are you sure you're okay not being with everyone else?"

"Really, don't worry about it Rory, I'm happy to be here with you. We don't get a lot time to ourselves these days, unless you count the time we spend sleeping and I have to say it's not the same as having a quiet dinner together. Besides, spending my birthday with everyone would just mean going to the pub and getting drunk. We do that every night, I'm happier to be doing something different with you."

Rory nodded, accepting his answer without further comment. She had a small present to give him this evening but everything else would come on Saturday. But it wasn't his reassurance that quieted her down it was once the use of her real name. She needed to confide in him tonight; not because she wanted to hear him call her Mary and not because she was trying to buy his affection or prove something to him or any ridiculous reason like that, it was just time. She had had time to digest what had happened over the weekend and after her conversation with Chloe Rory knew it was time to tell Tristan. Holding back about something like this from him was slowly killing her but it was something she needed to work out on her own time. The rest of the car ride was spent in a comfortable silence, each lost in his or her own thoughts while their fingers remained intertwined, resting on Tristan's thigh. His thumb was unconsciously stroking her hand and it made Rory feel safe and cared for. She smiled at the thought and rested her head on the back of the seat, closing her eyes and relaxing for the rest of the drive.

When they finally reached the restaurant Toby opened the door and smiled at them. "I'll be waiting here for you Miss Rory, Mister Tristan. Enjoy your dinner and happy birthday." He smiled at Tristan.

"Thanks Toby."

"Thanks Toby, but you can leave, I'll just call you when we finish."

"That's perfectly alright Miss Rory. I have my latest novel, just go in and enjoy your meal now."

Rory nodded and once again took charge as she led Tristan into the restaurant and gave the hostess her name. They were seated at the table and Tristan took a minute to take in his surroundings. It was an extremely romantic restaurant, most likely French, but it had the old fashioned English feel to it. They were certainly in the middle of the English countryside and the building reflected it. He looked up at Rory when he noticed she was staring at him and smiled. "It's beautiful here, however did you find it?"

Rory grinned. "I have connections out here, you know."

"How silly of me to forget." They both shared a laugh and turned their attention to their menus for a few moments. After Tristan had made a decision, he closed his menu and studied his girlfriend. She was obviously having a difficult time deciding what to eat, although that wasn't something new, but there was something else going on with her. Tristan knew that she had been preoccupied this week but he still had no insight as to what else had gone on last weekend—besides his girl friends being bitches. And as self-centered as it sounded, he had a feeling she was distracted by something involving him—and not just with planning tonight's dinner for his birthday. There was something more going on with her and he really wanted to find out. The only problem was he didn't want to pry. As much as it pained him to see her in pain Tristan had made a promise to himself to let her come to him, but he was trying to stick to the plan. So he sat back waiting for her to say something to him, for her to be ready to confide in him while letting her know that he wouldn't be going anywhere…or at least hoping that she really understood that. As the waiter came and left Tristan noticed Rory was fidgeting with her napkin while glancing at him every now and then. "Rory?" He asked, succeeding in getting her to look up at him before the waiter came back with the wine they ordered. Tristan went through the process of swirling and sniffing and tasting the wine before nodding his head in approval.

"Happy Birthday Tris," Rory said in a voice just higher than a whisper raising her wine glass. "May you have many more that are just as enjoyable as this one. Cheers."

"Cheers," Tristan repeated clinking his glass with hers before they each took a sip. "Is it good?" He asked her, wanting to make sure she would enjoy the selection as well.

"Very," Rory replied, nodding her had at the same time.

"Rory?" Tristan asked, and for the first name noticed her wince at his words. He briefly wondered what that was about but ignored it.

"Yes Tristan?" She answered, looking up at him, with a serious face.

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean? We're just here for your birthday dinner. I thought it would be a nice romantic place to go; quiet and all so we could spend some time together. We haven't gotten a chance to do that for a while."

"I agree. And it's a lovely restaurant, but there's something more happening with you. I don't just mean everything from this weekend either. And don't tell me it's about planning tonight or worrying that I won't like the restaurant. I love it and I know you knew that so that is not an acceptable excuse. There's something else happening with you. Is this about what happened with the girls last week?" He watched her face carefully, wanting to gain any insight into her thoughts that he could.

"What do you mean?" Rory looked at him hoping he wouldn't be able to read her thoughts.

"I know what they said to you," he said with a sigh. "I was upset over you being gone this weekend and started prying into them about what happened. You said something to me in that one conversation, something about my friends and your friends and I knew whatever happened during that girls' night was bad. So I asked. More like I demanded actually, and they told me."

"They did?" Rory hadn't expected those girls to admit to saying anything to her.

"Not at first, but Ella did. She's a good friend you know, she likes you, stands by you and all."

"I know," Rory said with a nod. "I'm lucky that I have her."

"They were all wrong Rory, I do hope you know that. I don't know why they said what they said, but they were wrong to say it, I want you to know that."

"They weren't wrong Tristan."

"What?" He didn't expect that for her.

"Well they were, you wouldn't cheat on me and you're not going to dump me because we aren't having sex, I know that, I'm not stupid you know."

"I never said that," he started to defend himself.

"I know you didn't," she began again, "I'm just letting you know that I didn't really believe them. For a minute or two, at most, it made sense, but then Ella refuted it and I realized how stupid that sounded. I knew you better than that. But they weren't wrong in the general idea of what they were doing. They were protecting you, looking out for you. It's the same as Finn or my dad telling you that they'll beat you up if you hurt me. I know that, I realized that, but that didn't mean it hurt any less."

Tristan nodded, surprised that she was handling it all so well. "Don't get me wrong," she started, "I'm hurt that even after knowing me for so long they would still feel they need to try and run me off and warn me about you and tell me that I didn't know you, but I understand the basis of what they did."

"Right…so you're okay with that?"

"Yes and no. It'll just take some time. They basically told me that if I didn't have sex with you, you would end up breaking up with me. And that hurt." It didn't make sense for her to hold back her feelings anymore; he already knew what they said.

"I can understand that. I just hope that you know that's not true."

"I do." Rory nodded. "That's why it hurt. I knew that you weren't really like that but they didn't. They still saw you as a playboy, as if you weren't really committed to me. And if your best friends thought that well…"

"I don't feel that way Rory. It's always been you…" It was a big statement for him to make, but he needed her to understand.

"I know that, Tris," she reassured him wanting to be able to say the same thing back to him but it wasn't the right moment and she still needed to settle it in her own mind. "I trust you and our relationship, it just hurt. These are your best friends saying this to me, friends that I thought were my friends as well."

"They insist that they like you and think of you as their friend."

"Yeah, well…" Rory wasn't so sure about that.

"You don't have to believe me, or them, but that's what they told me."

"Thanks." She nodded her head. "I need to tell you something."

Her voice became even more serious, if possible, and Tristan was immediately worried. "Rory? Are you okay?"

Although she knew in any circumstance where she said "I need to tell you something" he would call her Rory, Rory still didn't like it. "I'm fine, I just…I want you to know what happened this weekend."

If he hadn't of been listening to her earlier he certainly would have started paying attention now. "I'm listening." Tristan reached out to take her left hand in his right while hoping that whatever she said was good news. He was shocked when she pulled her hand away from his on the table. Instead of taking his hand she started wringing hers together.

"I don't really know how to say this but I'm going to try. Hopefully it won't come out too choppy." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Saturday afternoon I was headed to brunch with everyone. We were having a good time and joking when I realized I had a voicemail so I picked it up." Rory looked down at her hands, even though she had told her father and Chloe what had happened it was still difficult for her to say the words. "It was my mom. She called me. She wanted to talk to me. It just…it…"

Tristan didn't know what to say. He was relieved to know that his letter, and hers, had arrived in Stars Hollow and knocked some sense in to Lorelai but Rory's reaction was slightly unexpected and he was unsure if he should tell her what he did. Of course he had to tell her, but when was a different topic all together. It would have to be before she spoke to Lorelai. "Are you okay?" It was a stupid question but he had to ask.

Rory shrugged. "I guess so. I just…I didn't know what to do. I got in a cab and headed for some property my family owns. I didn't want to be with anyone. I know you wouldn't have forced me to talk or confide or call her back but I just needed to be by myself, I'm sorry." She looked down at her hands again.

"Rory I understand. Of course I was upset and wanted to be there to help you but you needed to grasp the situation yourself first. I get that." He watched as she flinched again and took a deep breath. "Okay, before we go any further this evening we have to talk about what else is going on with you."

"What are you talking about? Isn't that enough?" She looked up at him with her big blue eyes that were filled with unshed tears and Tristan felt his heart break a little bit.

"Oh it's enough, but your response every time I say your name is bothering me. I need to know why. It doesn't seem like you're going to break up with me but I can't figure out why you're flinching each time I talk to you. There's something else. Have I done something?" Tristan looked at her worriedly.

"No!" Rory insisted not wanting him to be upset on his birthday.

"Well there's something going on between you and me and I'd like you to talk to me about it; consider it a birthday present."

Rory sighed knowing that she had to give in. "It's just… I don't know. Ever since I spoke to you Saturday night; when we had that long discussion and everything." She stopped talking and he was nervous.

"What about it?" He tried to think back to the conversation and figure out what was bothering her.

"Well, ever since then you've been calling me Rory."

Tristan saw a tear run down her face and couldn't imagine why she was crying. "Well, that is your name."

She looked up at him, silent tears still falling and couldn't find the words. "Tristan, in the five years I've known you you've done everything _but_ call me Rory. The only time you call me that is when you want me to know you're serious."

He thought about what she was saying for a moment and when he finally realized what she was saying Tristan couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face. "You're upset because I'm _not_ calling you Mary?"

Rory blushed fiercely. "It's not as ridiculous as you're making it out to sound!" She protested.

Tristan laughed, he couldn't help that. "Oh, I'm not saying it is, I just think it's funny. You've been upset because I haven't called you Mary."

"You haven't been calling me that because you've been upset with me. It hurt."

"What?" Instantly he stopped laughing. "I haven't been upset with you; I think I'd know if I were upset with you."

She shook her head. "Right. I guess you didn't realize because you didn't let yourself think about it but you've been upset with me. I wouldn't tell you about the girls' night and then I left town without telling you why and you knew I was upset. I wouldn't talk to you, it bothered you, and that made you stop calling me Mary."

"I didn't even realize…"

"I know you didn't." Rory shrugged.

"But it bothered you."

"As it would bother you if I were upset with you."

"Well I'm not upset with you," he tried to reassure her. "Wait a minute, did you tell me everything tonight because you didn't want me to be upset with you?"

"No!" Rory insisted. "I promise that wasn't the reason. I was ready to tell you, I wanted you to know. I had every intention of telling you what was going on, I just…I needed to digest."

Tristan nodded. "I figured. It hurt to sit back and watch you hurt but I knew that you would come to me when you were ready." Rory was relieved that he knew that about her and Tristan could see it. "So…are we okay _Mary_?"

"Happy birthday Bible Boy."

"Thanks Mare."

"Oh, we have plans this weekend. In London."

Whatever his response to her announcement would have been was halted by the arrival of their dinner. Rory grinned as Tristan growled, unhappy that he wouldn't get his answer; she'd be too preoccupied with dinner.

**GGGGGG**

"Are you going to tell me where we're going tonight?" Tristan asked Rory for the millionth time that day. They had made the trip to London yesterday, Friday, after Rory finished her classes and then had met up with all of their friends this morning for brunch.

Rory rolled her eyes, but luckily it was Carter who answered before she could. "You should know your girlfriend well enough that you realize asking her a million times will only make her MORE stubborn. Besides, why would any of us want to ruin your birthday?"

"Oh, so now my birthday gets ruined by me knowing what's going on? Isn't that just great." Tristan glared dramatically and the others couldn't resist laughing. "And since when do you know my girlfriend better then I do?" He accused.

"Hey, hey, let's not go there," Jasper interrupted the pair. "We all know Rory well enough by now Tristan; or at least we know her well enough to understand her stubborn side."

"You know, I'm standing RIGHT here," Rory pointed out.

"How could we ever forget you Mare?" Tristan teased, sending a smirk in her direction.

"Just feel lucky it's your birthday," she answered back quickly.

"Oh trust me, I do." He smiled at her and Rory returned the gesture. Squeezing her hand lightly.

"Enough you two, we're here." The Black Cab the few were sharing, followed directly by the rest of the group, had indeed come to a stop. Carter took care of paying the driver and they all got out, Tristan stopping short and then looking at his girlfriend.

"Care to explain?"

"Explain what?" She questioned innocently.

"Don't give me that innocent face Mary, I know better than that." He began a tickle attack on her sides, resulting in Rory leaning into him more than usual while giggling uncontrollably.

"Is she really giggling?" Belle asked the others.

Ella nodded. "You bet she is. This is why they're perfect together." Ever since that one night the week before Ella managed to stick in some kind of snide remark about Tristan and Rory's relationship. She knew that being the roommate and best friend, AND dating Tristan's roommate allowed her to see another side of their relationship that the others never saw.

"I see." Katie spoke quietly and turned her attention back to Tristan when Rory's giggling stopped.

"You seriously did this?" He asked, his face as flushed as hers, having started laughing once she did.

"Seriously did what?" Rory skillfully avoided his question again and instead turned towards the entrance where a young gentleman was waiting for them.

"Miss Gilmore?" He asked with a smile. The few that were working this evening had been fully briefed on what was going on and everyone was interested in what a group of Oxford students would really be doing here for the evening.

Rory nodded. "That would be me. Is everything all set up inside?"

"Just as you requested." He was not to give away that she had help setting this up.

"Mary?"

"And here I thought I was too corrupted and would get rid of that name." She teased as she led the way inside. Tristan stared at her, unable to understand her words since she had only three days ago informed him how upsetting it was that he didn't call her Mary. "Oh just get over yourself already! Let's have some fun. Happy birthday!"

And with that Rory left Tristan's side and grabbed Ella's hand leading her down some random row while pulling out her camera. "I can't believe that you rented out Madam Toussard's for his birthday!"

"What? I figured he'd like it; don't you think so?" She stopped at a wax figure of Oprah and posed for a picture--which was taking out her notebook and pen pretending she was interviewing the hostess. It was a classic Rory shot.

"I do think so; it's just...how did you do it?"

"I know people," Rory said with a grin. She'd have to call Finn later and thank him. He did an excellent.

Ella laughed. "You're crazy. You hate being from money but you'll use it to your advantage."

"I learned from my Yale friends. If you're stuck with the cash you might as well use it to have some fun. Besides this wasn't really my money OR my pull."

"Really?"

"Yup. Gotta love that Finn. It's a good thing he likes Tristan."

"How are things with Tristan?" Ella asked slowly. "And why did we ditch him and Carter?"

"Cause we can?" Rory shrugged. "Just because he's my boyfriend doesn't mean I have to spend every free minute with him. I can share him with his friends on his birthday."

"You can spend time with them to you know, it's not that they hate you. They're just looking out for him."

"I realize that, I recognize it and I understand it. Everyone has told me that they don't hate me, but no one has thought about how I feel about them, have they? Maybe I want to hold a grudge for a little while."

"I didn't see you as the kind of person to hold a grudge."

"You'd be surprised," Rory said as she snapped a picture of Ella with a fake Brad Pitt. "I used to love him...but then I took sides."

Ella laughed, easily following her roommates change in topic. "Me too. But I can't blame the wax figure for the real life person, can I?"

"Good point! Let's get one together."

"How?"

"Need some help?" Carter's voice came from behind them.

"Damn! He found us!" Ella said loudly and Rory laughed while Carter looked confused.

"Take the picture please." Rory thrust the camera at him, noticing that Tristan wasn't too far behind, but ignored her boyfriend as she posed with the wax Brad and her friend. They posed in a very risqué pose and laughed through it before kissing his wax cheeks and walking away.

"Aren't The Beatles here somewhere?" Ella asked.

"That's what I've heard."

"Let's go," Ella pulled Rory along and turned her head to look at the confused boys. "Well, are you coming or no?"

They spend the rest of the evening playing around with the different wax figures and posing both themselves and the wax in different directions to make the best pictures. As the evening wound down again Tristan and Rory found themselves with a few rare minutes together. "Are you enjoying yourself?" She asked, needing verbal confirmation.

"The best birthday ever Mary, seriously." He smiled at her, loving how worried she was about him having a good time on his birthday. "This was a great present. I don't know how you did it but I love it."

"A girl's got to have some secrets."

Tristan laughed. "I know that. Are you having a good time?"

Rory nodded. "It's been nice."

"Even though you haven't hung out with EVERYONE tonight?" She had spent a lot of time with Ella and some of the guys, but it was clear Rory was angry with the girls--even if she wouldn't admit it.

"Even so. And please don't ask anyone to apologize. I wouldn't accept right now and then things would be really awkward."

Tristan nodded, understanding and respecting her wishes. "Are you ready to go?"

"We have about 15 more minutes before the kick us out. And then the party continues." Rory had a scheming look on her face and Tristan laughed.

"There's more than this?" He didn't even expect this, let alone something more.

"Of course. But after this it's just you and me buddy. We're saying goodnight to our friends."

"Am I ever going to find out why we're not spending the night in your apartment?" Tristan had been surprised when they checked into one of the best hotels, and most expensive, in London. Their friends weren't staying there, but they were, and Rory wouldn't say why.

"Eventually," Rory said with a shrug. "And before you start getting overly nosy, let's remember who my friends back home are. That's why we're not ALL staying at the same hotel." Finn's family owned the most expensive hotel chain in the world and while he had given Rory and Tristan the best suite without charge, she didn't ask for it for the whole party; she had wanted something to be private between them all. And since the rest of the group didn't have $2500 a night to spend on a hotel room they were staying somewhere else that was just as classy but less expensive.

"So this is one of Finn's hotels?" Tristan was even more interested now. He had never stayed in a hotel in the Rothschild chain, but he had heard amazing things about them.

"It is." Rory confirmed. "You ready?" They were headed to the exit where their friends were gathering all of their things. "We'll see you guys tomorrow night for dinner?" Everyone agreed and got into one cab while Rory and Tristan got in another.

"Tomorrow night? What are we doing all day tomorrow?" He had no problem spending the day with his girlfriend but it was slightly odd that everyone would be in the same city and not spending time together.

"You'll see." Rory had blocked out the day for them alone figuring that they would both be a little too tired to go gallivanting with their friends. Not to mention she was looking forward to spending the entire day in bed with her boyfriend.

**GGGGG **

Tristan had never experienced a birthday quite like this before. Although the dinner with Rory on his actual birthday had been slightly tense and awkward they had moved past that as quickly as possible and enjoyed their evening. And then tonight, well, somehow she had managed to rent out Madam Toussard's wax museum for their group of friends after another fantastic dinner on the town. And now she had gotten Finn to get them a room at one of the most expensive hotels in the world [which he sure Finn had not asked her to pay for and yet she still had more planned for tomorrow. His girlfriend was truly something amazing. He once again was reminded how lucky he was that she was actually his girlfriend.

"What do you have planned tonight Mary?" Tristan asked her again, thinking that now they were alone she would tell him.

"You're not getting me to spill anything about the rest of the plans for the rest of the weekend. You may as well stop asking."

"You're blushing...interesting."

Rory cursed her 'innocence' silently and tried to calm her face down. "Nice try, but you're blushing which means you're slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed. Now I really want to know what's going on." And with those two sentences Tristan managed to shut Rory up completely. She said nothing except to pay the driver and thank him once they reached the hotel. "And I've upset you."

Once they were in the elevator Rory turned around to look at him straight on, a smile on her face. "You think I'm going to let a ridiculous comment like that ruin this weekend? You don't know what you've gotten yourself into."

"Is that so?" Tristan asked, moving in closer to her until he was practically on top of her.

"Yup." And then she closed the space between them, firmly pressing her lips onto his.

Tristan was surprised, that was for sure. Rory never instigated things between them. Of course there were times when she kissed him, but there was something different behind this kiss, as if she was trying to tell him something with her lips. Although he couldn't decipher exactly what she was trying to say, Tristan knew whatever came next he would appreciate. Before anything could escalate past a few intense kisses the elevator dinged and opened up on their floor. "Come on, let's go." Rory grabbed his hand in hers and led him down the hall to their room.

"Privacy, privacy is always good," Tristan agreed allowing her to lead him. She was nervous, yet excited, he could pick that up, he was just having a hard time figuring out why. As he shut the door behind him, he moved her around his body so his was pressing her up against the back of the door. "I like privacy," he whispered, trailing kisses along her jaw and below her ear.

"Me too," Rory mumbled, lost in the wonder of his kisses. He was an excellent kisser and she had no interest in figuring out how he became that way, but accepted it while mentally thanking those girls for preparing him for her. At one point Tristan broke away from her mouth, trying to catch his breath a little bit and giving Rory a chance to clear her mind. "Oh! I'll be back!" She had gotten so lost in his kisses that Rory had forgotten the part of the plan that happened once they got back to the hotel. Of course they were on the right track but she had gone shopping particularly for this evening and wasn't going to let that embarrassing trip go to waste.

Tristan watched as Rory scampered out of his arms and headed for the bedroom. A moment later he heard the bathroom door shut and sighed. He had no idea what she was doing, but figured he would sit down and wait for her. It was no more than a minute after he sat down that Tristan sat up straight; he had figured it out. He had been out of the game so long that he didn't recognize the signs. She had set them up for an extremely intimate ending to their public celebration of his birthday. Rory was ready to have sex with him.

The realization hit him hard and made him smile. Instantly he knew why she chose tonight, how she wanted it to be a special yet random evening so he didn't think she was confiding in him and then slept with him out of guilt. She didn't want this to be about what his friends said last week or a matter of _needing_ one another; she wanted it to be about them and how they felt. He loved her even more for it. His ears perked up when he heard the bathroom door open again followed by the soft sound of her feet against the carpet. Patiently Tristan waited, not wanting to ruin her plans.

"Where were we?" Rory asked from the doorway, her voice slightly weak from nerves.

"I believe we were…" Tristan turned his head towards her and his breath caught. She was magnificent. How Rory managed to gather the nerve to wear something like this was beyond him, but she looked even more beautiful and he loved her for doing it. "You look…amazing." Rory blushed as his words, watching his every move as he got closer to her. "Another birthday present? You're spoiling me rotten this year Mary."

"I have a lot of years to make up for," she said with a smile. "It's not so much a birthday present as it is a…"

"Whatever it is, thank you." He reached out until his right arm wrapped around her waist and hauled her closer to his body so they were touching. Even through his polo shirt he could feel the silk and lace of her lingerie and it was turning him on even more; which was dangerous considering how much she already turned him on.

Rory blushed; not just because of his words or even the look of sheer lust on his face but because of his body's reaction that she felt pressing against her. It wasn't the first time she'd felt Tristan's erection, but it was the first time she felt ready to "confront" it. Moving her hands up his chest Rory wrapped them around his neck and kissed him again. As the kisses became more intense and Tristan once again turned his attention to Rory's neck, she moved her hands down the front of his shirt, allowing her nails to rake over his shirt and tease him. Eventually Rory reached the hem of his shirt and quickly slid her hands underneath it, reveling in the feeling of his toned muscles underneath her hands. At one point she broke away from him and before Tristan could express his displeasure Rory had his shirt over his head and on the floor while her hands began running over his naked chest. The moan he admitted when she first ran her fingers over his nipples before leaning down and capturing them in her mouth. He didn't allow her to pay him too much attention before Tristan dragged her mouth back to his. He attacked her lips, nibbling at the top and the bottom before forcing them open and running his tongue across her teeth before battling her tongue for control. And as his tongue battled hers, Tristan's hands found their way underneath her lingerie top, slowing moving upwards towards her bra-encased breasts where he teased her the same way, never touching her skin but outlining their shape. Rory moaned against his mouth, obviously unsatisfied by his lack of "proper" attention.

Briefly Tristan's smirk formed against her mouth before he gave in and lifted Rory's top off of her body and threw it on the floor. Moments later Tristan was paying her back for teasing him earlier. Her moans encouraged him and Tristan moved slowly down her body until he reached the top of her panties. There he toyed with the elastic running his all the way around, teasing her as to what was to come. Unable to handle his teasing motions Rory moaned his name, "Tristan…" She cried out softly, hoping he would get her meaning since she was unable to explain her needs any better. And he must have understood her for a minute later Tristan lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He let out a manly growl she had heard only once or twice before when they gotten into some pretty heavy make out sessions and Tristan pulled away first.

This time, however, Tristan wouldn't be pulling away. He wouldn't stop unless Rory asked him to and they both knew she wouldn't. He was lowering his body onto hers when Rory stopped him, running her index finger down his chest until she reached the top of his pants. Deftly she undid his belt and unbuttoned his pants, this time going slowly allowing her fingers to simply graze his erection. Wanting to touch him more than anything, Rory pulled at his pants until he hand to assist her to get them off his body and by then she already had a hand down her boxers and was gripping him. He moaned at the feeling of her bare hand with its silky smooth skin against his hardness. As Rory's hands toyed with him, Tristan felt it was only fair to return the favor and moved his own hand into her panties, teasing her with feather light touches along her most sensitive area before allowing himself to delve deeper. When he parted his folds and found out exactly how ready for him she was, Tristan couldn't help but moaning. "Rory," he said in a deep, husky tone.

"Hm?" She was caught up in touching him and having him touch her.

"You're so…wet." He said, being slightly crass and not caring. "So ready for me."

"Mmm-Hmmm." The grin on his face told him everything he needed to know.

"Now you're going to get it."

"Give it to me good," she managed to get out.

Tristan was momentarily shocked by her bold answer but quickly recovered, giving her no warning as he inserted two fingers inside of her. Rory matched her speed to his and soon enough she felt his body tense above hers and knew what was happening. "Just let go," she managed to get out to him. And although Tristan wanted to protest, wanted to wait for her, he knew it wasn't going to happen so he listened to her. No sooner had his body stopped shuddering then did he pick up his pace egging his girlfriend to find her own release. And she did. It was when she recovered, however, that shocked him most. "Now that we've got that out of the way…" Rory started, giving him a sultry look.

"Excuse me?" Tristan stared back at her wondering what was going on. Before he had a chance to contemplate what Rory was hinting out, she flipped them over, first taking off his boxers and then removing her panties. After they were both naked Rory covered Tristan's mouth with her own, letting her hands run freely over his body until she felt his body recover and come back to life. At the same time Tristan had apparently understood where she was going and had started to tease her again as well. "Rory…are you sure?" Tristan asked, as things heated up between them.

"Oh yeah."

"Really sure?"

"Tristan! I'm sure!" This wasn't the best time for him to be arguing with her about this but she appreciated how thoughtful he was being. Wanting to _show_ him how serious she was about this, Rory reached over and pulled a condom off of the nightstand. She quickly tore the package open and covered him, rendering Tristan speechless but he quickly recovered flipping them both over so he was on top.

"You're sure…" He asked her one last time.

"Tristan." Rory caught his attention, looking straight into his eyes trying to convey to him how okay she really was with all of this. She had thought about it, she had prepared for it and after everything else that had happened she was ready for it. He must have finally understood her because he waited only a second longer before entering her in one swift motion.

**GGGGGG**

When Rory woke up the next morning she found herself laying on top of Tristan, his arm wrapped tightly around her back. It took a moment to realize why they were both naked, but as everything from the night before rushed back to her Rory couldn't keep the smile off of her face. Things had gone extremely well—it was actually the best sex she'd ever had. While Logan had been skilled, her feelings for Tristan had only added fuel to their desire.

"Good morning Mary," his husky voice greeted her.

"Morning," she answered, kissing his bare chest instead of looking up at him.

"Or do I get to call you Magdalene now?"

Rory didn't have to be looking at him to see the smirk on his face. "It's a bit of a long nick name, isn't it?" She played along with him.

"That's a valid point."

"Thank you." She couldn't help but laugh at their conversation. It wasn't a typical morning after conversation—but it was nice to know that she and Tristan didn't need that awkwardness between them, they were past that. That's why she knew that they had a good relationship—they awkwardness that occurred during all her other relationships was not present with Tristan. The only awkward part of their entire relationship had been during Chilton when Tristan was a spoiled rich boy and didn't know how to properly express himself and Rory didn't want to hear anything out of his mouth. Things had certainly changed since then.

"What are you thinking about?" Tristan knew her quietness was due to her over-analyzing something.

"I'm not overanalyzing," she teased him, knowing what he was thinking about her silence, "I'm just thinking how nice this is."

"I agree with you, but care to expand?"

"There's no awkward feeling between us. We're not grasping for something to say. I like that. It says a lot about our relationship."

Tristan took a deep breath, he knew exactly what she was saying and agreed with her. "Rory," he said her name and waited for her to look at him.

"Yes?" She sat up slightly, instantly aware that she was naked and grabbed for the blanket to cover her up. Something told her she didn't want to be covered for this conversation.

"I love you." Tristan tried not to rush through the words and make them seem as serious as possible.

"Excuse me?" Whatever Rory expected it wasn't that.

"It isn't because of what happened between us last night, but it was something I realized right now. I love you. You're such an integral part of me; I care so much about you. This whole lack of morning after awkwardness solidifies everything. I just…I love you."

Rory laughed. She couldn't help it. She knew it was bruising his ego for her to laugh after such an emotional unveiling but she couldn't hold it back. "I'm sorry Tris, really. I'm not trying to laugh at you, it's just...well…you're so cute. You came to this conclusions based on our lack of awkwardness right now and I find that fantastic…and a bit funny. I'm sorry." Tristan continued staring at Rory until she finally regained her composure. Looking up at him and the slight confusion in his eyes she smiled at him. "You're amazing Tristan. I'm honored that I'm the one you chose to love. I can't believe that you love me, I really can't."

"I do. I love you." He insisted.

"And it's one of the many amazing things about you." She reached up at kissed him. "I love you too, you know."

"Thank you." Tristan smiled at her before leaning down to kiss her and pull the sheet away from her body. "And thank you for not making us plans for today," he mumbled against her skin, trailing kisses to her ears. "I definitely don't want to spend the day with anyone other then you, anywhere but here, doing anything but this." And he showed her what he meant by rolling on top of her once again, this time his kisses headed towards her breasts.


	29. Everyone Has Their Problems

**AN:** Happy Thanksgiving!

**Chapter 29: Everyone Has Their Problems**

"You had a good weekend," Ella commented immediately once Rory returned from classes Monday afternoon.

"I did," Rory agreed. She and Tristan had come back to town late last night, having cancelled on their friends to spend the rest of the day together.

"Care to share?" Ella was probing; she wanted details.

"He loves me," Rory told her softly.

"Awww!" Ella hugged her friend. "Let's celebrate! Come on, girls night!"

Rory laughed. She loved that her roommate was so interested in her relationship with Tristan. It was nice that her friends approved of her boyfriend. It always seemed at one point or anything everyone disapproved of her boyfriends, but with Tristan it didn't work that way. "We can do that, sure."

"You don't have plans with the boy?"

"I don't know," Rory answered with a shrug. "We have classes and such today. I can meet up with him tonight."

"For sleeping?" Ella wagged her eyebrows at her roommate and laughed at Rory's expression.

"There should be some of that…eventually."

"Didn't you two get enough yesterday?"

"One can never get enough of Tristan," Rory replied, a huge blush crossing her features. Ella whistled and Rory could only laugh in response.

**GGGGG**

Tristan had gone through his Monday like any other day although every other minute his mind traveled back to the wonderful weekend his girlfriend put together for him; more specifically the past 36 hours they had spent together. It had been an unexpected present but one he thoroughly enjoyed. Knowing that she loved him the same way he loved her was a good feeling. He may have told Cassie that he loved her, but what Tristan felt for Rory was completely different. This was real, grown-up love that he didn't want to let go.

After finishing classes and taking a short nap Tristan was ready to call Rory to find out what she was up to when his phone rang. Seeing the name on the caller-id Tristan groaned and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Tristan, how are you?" Daniel DuGrey's voice came through the line.

"Just fine Dad, how are you?" Tristan hated the small-talk that was required any time his father called.

"Just fine, thank you. Did you have an enjoyable birthday?"

Tristan rolled his eyes. It was just like his father to call him almost a week after his birthday and ask if he had a good celebration. The rest of his family had found a way to call and speak with him personally on that particular day but as usual his father was unable to find time in between his busy schedule to find more than one minute to call his son. He should probably be grateful his father's secretary reminded him enough times that it was his son's birthday so he needed to call and at least leave a message. "Yes sir, Rory threw a big party for me this weekend in London with all our friends."

"So you were just in London, were you?" His father sounded unusually excited about that news.

"Yes…" Tristan was wary of his father's excitement it couldn't be anything good.

"So you can get away from school if you need to?"

"You know that I can Dad, but it has to be important." He knew what was going on now. His father must be in London for business and want him there to schmooze his clients.

"This is."

"And what is _this_, exactly?"

"I'm in London for the next week, for business. I'd like you to come down here. You need to see how the business works, meet some of the clients. And since you are out here for the next year people here will get to know you. They'll become more comfortable if I ask you to take a meeting instead of coming out here myself." Daniel said this to his son every time he came to London but he always came back. Even though he was living in England Tristan didn't handle things for his father, he was just forced to come down every single time the older man flew out for a meeting. It was frustrating; either trust him to handle things or don't. One day he'd have to give the business over to his son and Tristan knew his father wouldn't be able to do it. Daniel would remain in charge until the day he died; he did not delegate well even to his heir.

"I don't know that I can Dad."

"You just told me you could leave school if you needed to."

"I know that, but that's in general. I have a lot of things going on here."

"Are you talking about you _girlfriend_?" Daniel spit the word out like it had a bad taste.

"While I wouldn't want to leave _Rory_," Tristan stressed her name, "I do have things happening in school this week that I can't just back out on."

"I'll get you out of it, don't worry. You'll make up your exams next week, you can hand in your papers virtually and if you need to present something you can either videoconference the class or do it next week. You know someone to take notes for you don't you?" He had thought everything out so well that it scared Tristan. His father was being extremely pushy this time.

"I'll be there tomorrow after classes." Tristan knew that his father would want him there earlier but he wasn't going to do it.

"No, I need you here now."

"I can't go now Dad. You're not giving me notice, I told you that I would need 24 hours notice to come down to London. It's a long ride, I wouldn't get there in time for whatever meeting/dinner you have planned for tonight. I'll be there tomorrow in time for dinner."

"I don't understand why you can't come now.'

"DAD. I'll be there tomorrow. I'll call you when I leave school and know what time I'll get there, okay?" Tristan wasn't going to back out of this. He was staying in Oxford tonight.

"Fine." Daniel was not happy. "You're staying until Sunday night."

He hung up the phone annoyed with his father. Whether or not he wanted to go he was the DuGrey heir and did have family responsibilities. It was something Tristan had accepted a while ago, something that he "realized" when he "grew up". He couldn't get out of it, but he could make the best of it. Tristan would do everything in his power not to be like his father, not to have the life that his parents had. Standing up to his father about when he would arrive in London was one way he was keeping true to himself and being in a relationship with Rory—someone with her own aspirations and going to make something of herself besides being an amazing wife. Rory could be the best mother and best wife AND have a job; Tristan knew that and respected her for it. She would be anything but a society wife. Thinking of her he decided he needed to call and let her know of his revised plans for the week.

"Hello?" Her voice came through the phone lines and instantly soothed him.

"Hey Mare, what are you doing?" He could hear the loud TV in the background as well as the voices of Ella, Lucy, Marcy and Jackie.

"Hanging out with the girls. Is everything okay?" She knew from the second he said hello that things were off.

"Um, yeah, they're…" He didn't want to ruin her evening.

Rory laughed. "You know that I know you better than that. Hang on, I'll come to you. Give me 15." She hung up the phone and looked at the girls. "Sorry girls, I have to cut the night short."

"Going through withdrawal?" Lucy said with a laugh.

"Hey! I went MONTHS without, I can handle a night!"

They all laughed at her. "Right, I'm sure you can."

She just glared at them. "Whatever. I'm taking the ice cream and the candy. Tristan sounded upset. I bet his father called." They nodded and said they were continuing even without her and Rory was okay with that. Almost exactly 15 minutes later Rory walked through the front door of Tristan's dorm, into the "kitchen" and grabbed two spoons before heading into his room where she knew she'd find him laying on his bed being depressed. "How you doing babe?" She smiled in his direction throwing the candy onto the bed while placing the lid to the ice cream on his desk and handing him the container and a spoon. "Eat." She sat down on the other side of the bed, every now and then taking a spoon full of the treat making sure he ate more of it. "Are you okay?" She asked once he had finished the gallon container.

Tristan shrugged. Rory was so good to him, bringing him ice cream and candy and trying to cheer him up. If only it was that easy, but he loved her for trying and for caring. "My father called." He told her.

"I figured. I have Snickers." She knew he had a weakness for Snickers.

"What? Where?" They were hard to find in England; not impossible but hard to find and expensive.

"Lane brought me a whole bunch of stuff when she came out. I've been saving it for a special occasion."

"This occasion is anything but special."

"But you need cheering up and Snickers can do that."

"You can do that too," Tristan told her, reaching an arm out to grab her around the waist and pull her body up to his.

"Me?" She asked innocently.

"Yes you." Tristan kissed her hard, trying to prepare himself from being away from her all week.

Finally Rory broke away, not wanting to start anything too intimate when he was upset. If there was one thing she learned about sex from Logan and all his friends it was that having sex when you're extremely upset doesn't always work. Sometimes you have to cool down before the sex can happen and Rory knew that this was one of those times. "Since you have to go to London babe, stay at the apartment. I'll give you the keys and this way you don't have to see your father as much. You don't have to tell him where you're staying. I'll even come down after class on Friday so you have someone to come home to. I know that you'll be busy all weekend, but I can be there at night…if you want me to."

"You would do that?" Tristan asked her, unbelieving.

"I would do that. I know you don't want to go."

"You're the best girlfriend ever."

"That's what I've heard."

"Oh really? Who else has told you that?"

"Recently? Just you."

"Good."

She smiled at him. "So are you going to stay at Gran's place?"

"Are you sure?"

"You'll be more comfortable there. You can get away from that craziness. There's Internet access but no fax, your father can't stalk you too badly. Just don't tell him where you're staying."

"He won't let me get away with that."

"Who cares? You've stood up to him before, do it again."

"You're crazy."

"And you love me for it."

"That I do, that I do."

**GGGGG**

"Tristan! You're late!" Daniel DuGrey greeted his son Tuesday afternoon.

"Sorry Dad, class ran a little bit late." Tristan ignored his father's glance.

"Did you check into the hotel?"

"Oh, I'm not staying with you."

"What?" Daniel's head shot up from the papers he was reading to glare at his son.  
"Why not? I need you close by."

"You may need me close by but I also need to get _some_ school work accomplished and that can't be done if you can find me every minute. I'll be accessible but not by being next door. I have a place to stay."

"You're staying with that girl, aren't you?"

"What girl? You mean my girlfriend?" Tristan emphasized the last word as he stared at his father. "Rory is not even coming down here until the weekend, don't worry about her. Please, just leave her out of this.'

"I can't leave her out of this, you're involved with her."

"It's obvious she's not up to your standards Dad."

"You don't need a woman who wants to work."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "No, it's exactly what I need Dad. I don't want someone waiting on me hand and foot like Mom does for you. I need someone who loves me and cares about me. Someone who will bring me a galloon container of ice cream to eat in bed after I've had a bad day; not someone who's scared to come near me because I'm a monster."

"Are you implying that I'm a monster?"

"I'm saying that you couldn't even call your oldest son on his birthday!" Tristan took a deep breath. "There's nothing to argue about here Dad. I'm here. I'm standing in your office when I should be at school learning how to properly run the office. But nonetheless I'm here. I'm not staying under your thumb at whatever hotel you've chosen, but I'm going to be here. And I'll be around all weekend, but my girlfriend will be here so I don't kill you. I think that's a pretty good deal, don't you?"

"We have dinner engagements Friday and Saturday night," Daniel told him.

"That's fine, add one more seat to the table. Rory will come along. And don't worry, she's great-granddaughter of Lorelai Gilmore, she'll be well-behaved, well-dressed AND have intelligent conversations with your associates."

"They're your associates too."

"Yes, they're mine as well," Tristan conceded. "But she'll deal with them perfectly, as well as their wives."

"Really?" Daniel didn't think she'd have that charm.

"She went to Chilton, her grandmothers belong to the DAR, she was at a debutante ball and was formally introduced to society. I think she's pretty well suited for me and she's perfectly capable of handling you."

"She better not embarrass us."

"Dad! Seriously! She's a Hayden."

"What do you mean?"

"Her father is Christopher Hayden."

"Really?" Now he was intrigued.

"I can't believe that her name matters that much but yes, she's a Hayden. She doesn't speak with her paternal grandparents often but she's very close with her father."

"Her father inherits everything."

"From what I know," Tristan agreed.

"And she's his heir."

"Stop turning those wheels in your head Dad. You can't manipulate her. She's too smart. She got out of Mitchum Huntzberger's thumb and she can handle you as well. Don't doubt that."

"Let's talk about something more important," Daniel said abruptly. "Let's discuss what you're going to be doing this week." With a heavy sigh Tristan let his father discuss with him whatever he wanted.

**GGGGGG**

Tristan sighed as he loosened his tie and fiddled with his keys trying to find the right one. It had been a particularly grueling day full of meetings with his father and all he wanted to do was shower and crawl into bed. He had been talking and texting with Rory all week he still missed her, if only for her ability to relax him purely with her presence. He finally opened the door and was hit instantly by the most amazing collection of smells. Looking around the apartment he wondered if he somehow opened the door to the wrong apartment.

"You're home!" Her voice contained her excitement and Tristan couldn't help but smile. He was unsure if she was real or not but either way he was happy for the moment. His dreams were coming true and he wasn't going to argue with them. "Tris?" She questioned him. "Are you okay?"

"You're here?" He stared at her, letting it sink in that she was real.

"Yeah, you don't mind that I'm a day early, do you?"

"Never. I'm glad you're here." He smiled at her before reaching out and pulling her into his arms. "Why are you so early?" He held her close and inhaled the scent that was purely Rory.

"Class was cancelled for tomorrow and I figured you could use the company." She held onto him for a few moments more before breaking away and heading into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Tristan asked, confused but following her into the kitchen anyway.

"Cooking."

"Excuse me?" The Rory he knew did not cook.

"I'm cooking. I thought you'd appreciate a home cooked meal, so here I am."

"You're amazing."

"Thank you. I know."

"I didn't think you cooked.'

"It was one of the things Logan taught me actually." She didn't really want to bring Logan up but she had said the words before she could stop it. "Sorry." She looked down and concentrated on stirring the sauce.

"Don't apologize Mary." He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You had a long-term relationship with the guy, you loved him, you can't hold back from talking about him. You haven't in the past and I don't want you to now." Rory nodded. "How much longer until dinner's ready?"

"Fifteen, twenty minutes, maybe," she told him.

"Great, I'm going to shower and put on something that doesn't resemble a suit."

"Sounds good. I'll have dinner ready when you're done."

"Thanks babe." Tristan left her in the kitchen, stirring various pots and pans and went into the bedroom they always shared, noticing her things were unpacked for the weekend. Nothing could have been better then seeing her here tonight. His father would be more bearable tomorrow knowing that she was there to see at the end of the day. As he turned on the water and undressed, checking the temperature of the shower before getting in, Tristan was thinking about the rest of his life with Rory by his side—it was a wonderful thought.

**GGGGG**

"God these parties are boring," Rory said to Tristan Saturday night as they left the hotel the business function had been it.

"Tell me about it. At least you were with me tonight."

"Yeah, for five minutes when we got here, an hour and a half while we ate and five minutes before we left. Your father wasn't too excited to see me tonight. Did he think he was going scare me away last night?" Last night's event had been worse. Daniel kept dragging Tristan away under pretenses of business partners but Tristan would reappear 20 minutes later complaining that his father was throwing society bimbos at him. "He doesn't like me, does he?"

"My father probably won't accept you until you have a ring on your finger and even then I'll have to have one on mine before he is forced to accept it."

"Then he'll want you to have affairs."

"My father can't control that."

"Why don't I ever live up?"

"Please don't let my father get to you. I thought telling him you were a Hayden would help."

"It didn't?"

"You never know with my dad. He's probably forgotten."

"Right." Rory sighed. "How about we forget about your father? We'll go back to Gran's and relax; spend some quality time together knowing that tomorrow you don't have to see him."

"Oh, about that."

"What?"

"I have brunch with him."

"Just you?"

Tristan nodded. "I tried to bring you along but he wouldn't hear of it. Men only apparently."

"Okay, no problem. We'll chill tonight and tomorrow after brunch go back to school and hang out with everyone at the pub. They're just as worried."

"There's nothing to worry about, it's just my father," Tristan tried to explain.

"I know that babe, but they don't."

"Let's just drop it okay. I don't want to think about what he's planned for the rest of the weekend."

Rory wanted to push, she knew that she needed to push, but Tristan wasn't going to let her. If she pushed him anymore right now he'd lash out at her; she'd been through this enough with Logan and his friends that she knew the warning signs. It was better that she left him alone for a while. So that's what she did. Rory said nothing as they continued the drive back to her apartment, greeting Edward and getting into the elevator. Once they got into the apartment she headed straight for their room and into the bathroom to take off her makeup and get into pajamas. "I'm going to read in the living room for a while," she told him once she was finished getting ready for bed. Tristan had already stripped down to his boxers and was waiting for her to climb into bed with him.

"Oh, um, sure," he answered having not expected her to ditch him this evening. "Are you okay?" He asked as she gathered a couple of books from the room and headed out.

"Just fine thanks, I'm not tired right now though." Rory leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Good night Tris." She left the room, closing the door behind her since she would be putting on music or the television and didn't want to disturb him.

"Mare?" His voice came from the hallway about an hour later.

"Hmm?" She had forgotten he was in even in the apartment having gotten so caught up in her book.

"Are you sure you're okay?" There had been an uneasy feeling in his stomach since she declared she wasn't tired.

"I'm fine Tristan, I promise. Just not tired yet. You have to be up early to go to brunch with your father, you should be getting some sleep."

"I'll sleep better with you in bed with me," he told her.

"I'm just not ready for bed right now." Rory still hadn't lifted her eyes from the page.

"Oh. Well, if you decide to come to bed I'll be waiting for you." Tristan silently moved back into the bedroom and Rory knew his feelings were hurt. She wanted to tell him that everything was okay but that would be a lie. While she wasn't upset with him this was the first time she had seen the similarities between him and Logan and it upset her slightly. Man did she wish she could call her mother.

**GGGGGG**

"Tristan, you're late," Daniel greeted his son Sunday afternoon.

"Sorry father, I overslept."

"It was because of that Gilmore girl, wasn't it?" He looked pained to say her name.

"I don't understand why you don't like her. I thought her being a Hayden would win you points."

"Her grandparents don't mention her.'

"So they don't talk to her, what difference does that make?"

"I don't think we need a scandal like her in our family."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "You have to be kidding me. She hasn't been a scandal in years. And with me in the family she's nothing."

"Then let me rephrase, we don't need more than one scandal in the family."

"Did you drag me away from her this morning to simply yell at me for being with her? You're not going to get me to break up with her and you won't get her to break up with me. She's stronger than that."

"You need to be sure of this relationship son. Really sure,"

"We're not engaged right now dad."

"Right now. You say that like it's going to happen eventually."

"It will."

"You've only been seeing her since the fall, how do you know that you want to marry her."

"I've wanted to marry Rory since I met her in Chilton. I was too cocky for my own good back then and she couldn't stand me. She's good for me dad; whether or not you want to see that."

Daniel sighed. "Your mother told me as much."

"Why didn't you listen to her?" Tristan questioned.

"I don't think this girl is good for you."

"You're right, she isn't good for me."

"See!" Daniel jumped ahead of himself.

"She isn't JUST good for me. She's perfect for me. She's everything I need. She'll keep me in line just like you want but she'll have her own life and career and I won't feel like she's around to answer my every whim."

"What's wrong with that? Every busy, successful man needs a strong woman."

"There's a difference between what you consider strong and what I do. Rory won't be just another DAR wife."

"Is there something wrong with the DAR?"

"It's not for Rory."

"But she's a member."

"She's a what?" Tristan stared at his father having not expected those words and the smug smile that accompanied them.

"I checked her out after Thanksgiving. I know all about her and her past with Logan Huntzberger. How she stole that yacht. But she joined the DAR before she left for London."

Somehow Tristan didn't quite believe his father. "Rory wouldn't do that. She hates the DAR. " With a sigh he tried to hold back from really getting at it with his father. "Is this what you told me to come here for?" There was no _asking_ him to show to up brunch, simply telling him it was mandatory.

"Well yes, did you think there was something else?" Daniel seemed surprised that his son would even think he wanted to talk about something else.

"We spent the whole week here on business I thought you may want to wrap things up. Or maybe you'd want to see how my life was going, besides telling me you don't like my girlfriend, but obviously I was wrong about that." Tristan had no patience for this. All he wanted to do was go back to school and hang out with his friends and his girlfriend.

"There's really nothing to wrap up, but is there something about school you would like to discuss." Daniel was a busy man and usually got so caught up in work and then making sure Tristan would know how to run the company that he forgot that his son was just that; his son.

"Don't try dad, you're not interested. And most of what I have to say involves Rory anyway. Now, if you don't have any pressing business right now I would like to get back to school at a decent hour. I'll speak to you soon." Tristan pushed back his chair and headed for the exit. He was not up to a sparring match with his father. Quickly making his way back to the apartment he called out for her hoping they could head back sooner than later. "Mary? You here?" He waited a moment or two before calling out again. "Rory?" The apartment wasn't that big and he didn't hear the shower running so she must be able to hear him. Thinking maybe she was still asleep Tristan headed into their room to find the bed perfectly made, his suitcase packed and a note on top of it.

_Hey babe—Had to head back to school early to meet up with a group for a project. Very last minute. Sorry I couldn't be here to help you decompress but let me know when you make it back and I'll meet you at the pub. I love you. –Rory_

He stared sadly at the note, wishing she would have stayed and waited for him but decided to just head back to school and find her there. When he did get back to school he grabbed the group and headed towards the pub.

"You okay man?" Carter asked as they sat down at the pub, two pitchers on the table.

"Yeah, just a long with my father."

"Didn't Rory go down there Thursday night?" Jasper questioned.

"Yeah, she did. She left while I was at brunch this morning. My father was a bit of an asshole to her."

"Doesn't sound like anything new," Jasper mentioned.

"It's not. I just hate that he did it. I was already annoyed that I missed a week of school. And I had had such a good birthday too and it was rained on by my dad. He always manages to do that. Then I came back and she was gone."

"I'm sure she had her reasons."

Tristan shrugged. "I think she was upset that my dad kept throwing girls at me all weekend and then I was annoyed at him and shut down Saturday night and I think it just hurt her. I didn't mean to though."

"I'm sure she didn't take it personally."

"I know. I just…I didn't think she'd leave without me. She could have called and told me."

"So she could cause a bigger fight between you and your dad? Yeah, right."

"What's going on?" Katie asked as she, Abby, Ella, and Belle took seats around the table with the guys.

"Oh, we were just talking about Tristan's week with his dad. Rory went home early today."

"Yeah," Ella said with a nod. "She went straight to library. Something about researching a paper or group meeting or something. She was weird."

Tristan sighed. "I knew it. I should go find her."

"Don't worry about her," Carter insisted. "She'll be fine, especially if she's got her nose in a book. She'll relax and everything will be fine. Now, have a drink and let's forget your father."

"Sounds good to me."

They were halfway through the sixth pitcher when Rory came into the pub unnoticed by anyone. She was about to announce herself but decided to just wait and hear them out. Rory knew it was rude to eavesdrop but couldn't help herself.

"So he's really against it, isn't he?"

"He threw everything at me; her prior relationship with Logan; the stolen yacht; the scandal behind her birth; said she joined the DAR; talked about her paternal grandparents not really even liking her."

Rory took in a breath. She knew that his father didn't think highly of him but knowing that the man mentioned all of those things to him made her upset. And she HADN'T joined the DAR. She had left for England before that application had a chance to get into the wrong hands. She'd never even filled it out.

"What did you say?"

"I told him that I caused more scandals for the family then Rory ever could and that I cared nil about anything else that he mentioned. She's good for me and that's what matters."

"He didn't like that too much, did he?" Tim could tell by the look on Tristan's face.

"Not too much. I just don't want Rory to find out."

But it was too late. Rory had heard—she'd heard everything. And the last thing she really wanted was to cause another fight between father and son. Although Logan and Mitchum never had a good relationship she hated that she became another bone of contention between the two. Rory just wanted things to be simple again; she wanted a boyfriend whose parents would accept her without making her feel guilty for wanting a career and a family. She wanted to be accepted because of who SHE was not because of her last names and she certainly didn't want to be known as The Scandal. Not wanting to stick around to hear anything else Rory turned around and walked out the pub heading straight back for the library to do some more studying or find a new book or SOMETHING that didn't require thinking about Tristan and his friends.


	30. The Olive Branch Arrives

**AN: **I apologize. There's no reason for not updating. I've had this story finished for forever. Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 30: The Olive Branch Arrives**

_March 28__th__, 2006_

_Dear Mom,_

_I didn't know if I'd ever gather the courage to send this to you, but after your phone call this is the only step I'm ready to take. As you know, it's taken me weeks to write this letter to you, and send these others, but I couldn't pick up the phone right now. There is so much going on in my life right now, so much that I need you for, yet, I can't handle hearing your voice. _

_Things are confusing out here. Tristan's father was in London for a week, right after Tristan's birthday, and ruined the blissful aftermath one has after a birthday. He was in London all week and I joined him on Friday. It was nice, Grandma's London apartment is always lovely to stay in, but it was tense too. I was at evening events with Tris Friday and Saturday and his father made sure to keep us a part and keep throwing the society women at Tristan. He did a good job on fending them off but it was still annoying. And he was in a bad mood about the entire week Saturday night. Then I left early on Sunday and I came to the pub to see everyone and overheard Tristan talking about his brunch with his father. Apparently Daniel DuGrey has decided I'm too much of a scandal to date his son and even though I'm a Hayden if my grandparents don't like me then I'm not worthy of his son. It's so remnant of Logan and Mitchum only Tristan will stand up to his father. It's an amazing site actually. But I don't want this again. I don't want to cause a huge rift between Tristan and Daniel. Of course I know that this isn't all me and I can't control how this man feels about me it still hurts. And I know Tristan isn't going to give me up because of his father but I don't want him to stay with me in spite of his father. I should have listened to you about getting involved with these society boys. This doesn't mean I'm breaking up with Tristan, don't get any ideas, but I need to get these thoughts out and you're the one that needs to hear them. Please understand. _

_I hope that things are going well for you Mom. I hope that Luke and the rest of the town are just as crazy and wonderful as always. I miss you all. Maybe this will start us talking again and maybe I'll be home for the summer—or at least part of it. I haven't decided where I'll be returning to school in the fall. I love Oxford; it is quite possible I'll just stay here. _

_I love and miss you Mom. _

_--Rory_

Taking a deep breath Rory folded the letter and stuffed it in the envelope with the rest of her letters. Carefully she sealed the larger envelope and wrote the address in her neat script. She was out the door a few minutes later headed for the post office. With shaking hands Rory handed the envelope over and paid for everything to sent to her mother on the other side of the Atlantic. As she left the building Rory pulled out her mobile and waited for Lane to answer. "I did it," she told her without a proper greeting.

"Oh my god! You did? When? Tell me everything! Well maybe not EVERYTHING but was it good? Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Lane screamed into the phone, causing Rory to laugh when she heard Zach and Brian complaining about the noise.

"There's not much to tell really…" Rory was confused on why Lane sounded so interested in the details of this particular event.

"Are you kidding me? You had sex with your boyfriend and there's not much to tell? Come on! I'm living through you here kid!" Lane exclaimed.

Rory laughed. Somehow she had managed to forget about her and Tristan sleeping together two weeks ago, it seemed so unimportant these days. "Thanks for putting my life in perspective for me Lane. I appreciate it; really."

"Come on already!" And so Rory went into detail about the events of Tristan's birthday weekend shying away from the specifics once they got back into the hotel room.

"You're an amazing girlfriend, you know that?" Lane asked.

She sighed. "I'm glad someone thinks so."

"What are you talking about? Tristan loves you!"

"I know he does…but his father doesn't."

"Uh-oh, what happened?"

"Nothing…his father just thinks I'm too big of a scandal to be dating his son. It's ridiculous and I know Tristan doesn't agree but I can't help how that makes me feel."

"He told you this?" Lane couldn't believe the man would be so callous to actually let Rory know how he felt.

"Oh, no, that would be against proper society rules to say it to me. He said it to his son and I just overheard Tristan repeating it to his friends the other day at the pub. I know that Tristan doesn't agree with his father but it still hurts."

"I would expect it to," Lane agreed. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Rory answered with a shrug. "I'll survive. I always do. I just don't want to be responsible for driving the rift between father and son further apart. I did that once with Logan and his father and that didn't end up well."

"You know that while they look alike those boys are two different people, right?"

"Yes Lane, I know that. Trust me. I know better then most."

"And Tristan comes off much more mature than Logan."

"He is." It was true; Tristan had a stronger grasp on reality then Logan did. Logan was still running from his responsibility to the family and Tristan was accepting to, begrudgingly.

"Then Tristan can handle his father better then Logan can. There will always be a rift, or at least that's what it seems like, but you can't control it. It'll only get worse if you break up with him over it."

"I know that. And I'm not planning on breaking up with him. I just need some time to myself."

"I can imagine. But don't block him out completely.'

"I'm trying."

"I know you are."

"Good."

"There's something else…you obviously weren't expecting my questions about sleeping with Tristan; so what else did you do? Come on, tell me!" Lane had finally put the pieces of the beginning of Rory's phone call together.

"I…Well…I just sent my mother a letter," Rory admitted.

"WHAT? We talked about Tristan all this time and you sent something to Lorelai! Man, you need to stop me from talking. Not that you and Tristan having sex isn't a big deal it's just…you haven't spoken to your mother since May."

"I know."

"And you were here for Thanksgiving and nothing."

"I know."

"Your grandparents have been out there and still nothing."

"Yes."

"I can't believe it."

"I know. It should get there in a week. I miss her."

"She misses you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Lane assured her friend. "She's hasn't said it—not even to Luke—but we all know she does. She's not the same person without you in her life."

"It goes both ways."

"I know that too."

"It should be there in a week."

"Good, I'll let you know if I see an immediate change."

"Great." Rory heard her phone beep. "Sorry Lane, someone's on the other line." Rory clicked through, "Ella?" She had seen the name on the call waiting.

"Hey Rory, how are you?"

"I'm good. Can I call you back, I'm talking to Lane on the other line."

"Actually…your grandparents are here."

"Excuse me?" They usually told her when they were coming in.

"Your father's parents are here."

"WHAT?" Rory couldn't believe this. "I'll be home in 15 minutes." She clicked back to Lane. "You'll never believe it but my father's parents are sitting in my dorm room."

"The same people that yell at you that you're a mistake every time you see them?"

"Those are the ones," Rory agreed.

"What do they want?"

"I have no idea. I need to go. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Rory."

She hung up the phone and started quickly walking to her room wondering what was going on that made Straub and Francine Hayden come all the way out to Oxford to see her. It had been a long time since they'd been a room together and never just the three of them. There was always a buffer of her parents. Taking a deep breath and placing her society mask on, Rory opened the door to her dorm to see her grandparents sitting uncomfortably on the couch with Ella, Carter and Tristan sitting around them. "Straub, Francine," she greeted them stoically. "What brings you here?" For a moment she thought maybe something was wrong with her father or Gigi and she started to get really worried but calmed herself down enough for nothing to show on the outside—not even to her friends.

"I was here on business and found out you were attending Oxford this year. We thought we'd come and visit you," Straub answered in a grave voice.

"I see." Rory said nothing else; any time more was said in their presence bad things happened. "I do wish you would have called before showing up," she said as pleasantly and politely as possible.

"Are you terribly busy?" France asked. She was slightly put out by Rory's tone and the fact that she did not ask her friends to leave the room.

"I am, actually. I have quite a few papers due and I'm supposed to meet with some friends to study this evening."

"You don't have time to sit and visit with me and your grandmother? We'd like to take you to dinner."

Rory took in the subdued tone of the grandparents she never knew and who never wanted to know her. "While I appreciate the sentiment as I've told Grandma and Grandpa I simply cannot drop everything because you decide to visit. It's only proper to give someone 24 hours notice upon visiting, isn't it?" She blinked at them waiting to hear what their response was; she was right and everyone knew it.

"Oh, well, we thought being that we're your grandparents you may be able to excuse us this once." Francine was well aware that if Emily and Richard had just "dropped in" Rory would have made time for them.

"I am sorry to disappoint you but it just doesn't look like that's going to be a possibility. I apologize for you having to come all the way up here to be disappointed in this manner but that's why calling ahead of time is usually a good idea."

"Well, we just thought…" Francine was cut off by her husband.

"If that's how you feel Lorelai. We're sorry you don't have time to fit us into your schedule. We'll see you some other time." For an instant Rory was convinced that her grandfather really meant what he was saying but she brushed that idea aside.

"Please travel safely and maybe next time you can give me some advance notice and I'll make sure to have my schedule open." Rory watched as they walked out of the front door and waited a few minutes to see if they would return before grabbing her phone and hitting her speed dial.

"Hello?"

"Please god tell me that you and Gigi are okay," Rory questioned as her father's sleepy voice answered the phone.

"Rory? We're fine, are you okay?"

"And are your parents okay? No one's found out they're dying or anything, have they?"

"Not that I know of. Now care to tell me what's going on?" Letting out a deep breath Rory got up from the table and moved into her bedroom not wanting to have this conversation in front of her friends. Locking the door behind her, knowing that Tristan would think it would be okay to follow her, Rory collapsed on her bed. "Your parents were just here."

"What? Where's here? Do you mean at Oxford?"

"Oh boy do I mean that. I had to use society decorum to get them away. Told them without 24 hours advance notice it's not proper to drop in on someone like this."

"Good for you. I guess those society folk at Yale taught you something, didn't they?'

"They've taught me many things Daddy." Rory said with a laugh. "Are you sure that everyone's okay? I hate that they were attempting to reach out to me and I turned them down but I was taken off guard."

"And one always needs time to prepare for my parents."

"Exactly!" She was grateful that her father understood not that she doubted he would. "But you have no idea why they showed up?"

"Sorry kid."

"It's okay." Rory stood and began gathering books so she could head to the library as planned.

"Are you okay?"

"Just fine. Now, tell me about you and Gigi. Oh wait! It's late there! I'm sorry, go back to bed." Rory started talking quickly and unlocked her door, not surprised to see her friends sitting around the common room and looking at her door.

"It's okay. Everyone's fine here. Just going about the day to day stuff."

"Dad…" Rory started, having an epiphany about what her other grandparents could have wanted from their visit.

"Rory…" Christopher responded with the same tone.

"You don't think your parents could have wanted to give me something…do you?"

"Like what?"

"They don't want to make me the Hayden heiress or anything, do they?" The silence on the other end was not comforting. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"I don't know for sure kiddo, but it has been mentioned."

"And you decided not to tell me? Give me a warning?"

"I didn't know when they were going to tell, if they were going to tell you. I thought they were just going to put everything in their will. I was wrong."

"Thanks for warning."

"We'll work it all out. They haven't said anything to you yet."

"I didn't give them a chance. I'm at the library now though, I should go."

"Are you okay?"

"Just fine. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll call you during normal hours and we'll work this out, okay?"

"Thanks Daddy." Rory hung up the phone and headed into the library; studying was exactly what she needed.

**GGGGGG**

It was an ordinary day. Lorelai had gone to work. She'd tasted all of Sookie's masterpieces and she'd listen to Michel whine about something or other. Briefly Lorelai thought about how it was Friday; and briefly, _very_ briefly, she missed going to her parent's house. She hadn't been there since Rory left Yale. It was as awkward as ever without Rory around. She was still angry with them over the entire situation, angry that they told her they would work with her and then went against her. Lorelai grabbed the mail on her way up the drive, thinking that it was heavier then usual but expecting she got more magazines and catalogs then the days before. Ready for a peaceful evening with Paul Anka and Luke Lorelei dropped her bag on the secretary near the front door and headed for the kitchen shifting through the mail without a second thought.

It was the large brown envelope with the familiar penmanship that stopped Lorelai in her tracks. Sitting down at the kitchen table she placed the envelope in front of her and stared at it. Lorelai recalled a few months ago when she opened up a similar package from Tristan and was touched that her daughter made the decision to send her the letters. She wondered if Rory knew what Tristan did, how he had been helping her without saying anything, but that was a question for a later date. Now…well now she needed to know what else her daughter could tell her, what she _wanted_ to tell her.

And as Lorelai read the letters one by one, reading and re-reading and then reading again, just to make sure she knew what each one said, what was going on in Rory's life. And they certainly told her that. Lorelai read them while realizing how much she had missed out on these past few months and then she recognized how much Rory had needed her these months. The letters always mentioned how much she needed her mother's advice, how often she wished to pick up the phone and discuss the mundane every day things that were happening. Her relationship with Tristan had grown so much since they first met at the beginning of the school year and Lorelai had missed it. She had missed hearing the stories, she had missed knowing about the first kiss, about the trips to the country; she had missed seeing Aunt Sophie's vineyard in France. She had just missed so much; too much.

As she sat there reading, Lorelai thought about how everything had affected Rory. Of course she had thought about her daughter throughout the whole ordeal, hearing Rory talk about it was very different. Hearing Rory say that she went by her middle name to distance herself from who she once was; that she still had problems talking about her life before moving to England, it pained Lorelai. Rory had loved talking about her home, about Stars Hollow and the life she had there. She loved talking about her family and her friends, both by blood and by love. The very idea that she could no longer be that free and open with her new friends pained her daughter.

"Well she made her first move," Lorelai said out loud. "Now I have to make mine." And she picked up the phone to do just that.

**GGGGGG**

Rory exited the library Friday night to find her disheveled boyfriend waiting for her. It was surprising since they hadn't had much, if any, alone time since she left London. "Tristan? Are you okay?" His appearance worried her.

"I don't know. Am I?' He hated the fact that he was so whipped but he was. He loved her, he would do anything for her.

"What are you talking about? Did something happen? Your grandparents? Your siblings?"

"Everyone's fine. Except me that is."

"What happened?" She sat down next to him, placing her hand on top of his and already he felt better. She was an addiction.

"You need to tell me that Rory. You came to London and everything was fine. Sure my father's an asshole but that's nothing new. I thought you'd just brush him aside as I do. He doesn't control my life besides forcing me into the family business and he knows it. My mother knows it and it's one of the few things she'll stand up to him about. But it seems that you don't know it. Or is it something else? Did he say something to you? Did something happen to _your_ family?" He was thinking back to the conversation he witnessed between her and her father's parents earlier in the week and the conversation she had with her father afterwards.

"Everyone's fine. And you're right; I didn't take anything your father says to heart. I know you don't listen to what he tells you, except for business. You take your duty as the family heir seriously but you don't let it run you. I respect you for that," she said truthfully.

"That's great, but it's not your respect that I want. Well, at least right now." He certainly did want her to respect him and to be proud of him.

"What do you want then Tris?" She was really at a loss. There was so much going on in her mind that he needed to help her out.

"I want you to tell me what happened. You've been distant all week."

Rory sighed. "I'm sorry. I've just been busy. Things are so hectic. And I thought after an entire week with your father and weekend at those stuffy parties you could use some time alone."

"While time alone is great I would have preferred time alone with you. Even if we said nothing just sitting in the same room as you would have helped. You have no idea what you do for me Rory." He used her name because he wanted her to know how serious he was.

"You do the same for me," she said softly. "But I just needed some time."

"Why?"

"I couldn't let it happen again." Rory hated admitting it; it made her feel weak.

"Couldn't let what happen again?" He looked at her curiously, having no idea exactly what she was saying.

"Watching the arguing between you and your father increase because of me. Of course you two argue but seeing it intensify over me was unsettling. I watched as it ruined whatever semblance of a relationship Logan and his father had and I couldn't do that again."

"You weren't making anything worse, you were making it better… at least for me you were and that's all you should be worrying about."

"I can't help it. I don't want to see your relationship with your father get worse; I seem to perpetuate that between father and sons in society."

"Anyone with pressure from their parents to follow in their footsteps is going to argue with their parents. You can't help it. But I don't allow my father to rule my world. I'm taking over the business because it's interesting but that's all of my life my father gets a say in. I've told him time and again he just chooses not to listen. You backing away though, that's proving him right."

"I know. I just…it's intense. It's hard work knowing that the parent of your boyfriend who you love very much dislikes you. To know that whenever you're with your father he'll be throwing beautiful rich women in your arms is frustrating. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just…"

"I know you don't mean it as a lack of trust, but it is. And I understand what you're saying, I do, I just don't know how to make it better for you. You saw me push all of those women away but still that didn't ease your mind. I don't know what to do to help you Rory."

"Be patient,' she answered with a shrug. "I'll get past it because I love you and I trust you. It's just hard. Society still unsettles me."

"You're such a part of it though."

"I know. And then more time I spend a part of it the more uncomfortable I become. I wasn't raised to be a society child."

"But you were a debutante," Tristan pointed out.

"It made my grandmother happy,' Rory responded. "I try and please her. I want her and my grandfather to be proud of me."

"They are. They always have been."

"I know. It's one of the reasons I love them so much. They always seem to overlook my faults. It's not the same with my mother but…" Rory trailed off.

"Everything will work itself out."

"I know."

He stared at her for moment. This was the first time that Tristan had mentioned Lorelai without Rory getting defensive. "Did something happen?" He knew Lorelai tried to call her a few weeks ago but Rory hadn't mentioned returning the call.

"I sent my mom a letter…actually…I sent her a bunch of letters that I had written her throughout the year."

"I know." Tristan needed to tell her what he did.

"Excuse me?" She hadn't spoken to him since before she sent the letters, how could he know.

"Well I didn't know that you sent them but I knew that you had written them. I…well…I found them one day while I was in your room. So I decided to…well…I sent her a few of them."

"WHAT?" She snapped her head towards him, completely surprised at his words.

"I found the letters. I sent a few to your mother. It's probably what made her call. She read how much you needed her."

"Oh." Rory had thought her mother missed her and just wanted to speak to her. She didn't know there was an ulterior motive going on.

"I know what you're thinking so stop. Your mother did not just pick up the phone because I sent her the letters. She had been thinking about it ever since the day you left Stars Hollow even more after I saw her over Thanksgiving. She misses you Rory; this just helped her understand that you missed her too."

Rory nodded. 'What do you think about dinner?"

"You're not mad.'

She shrugged. "You did it with my best interest at heart. That's what matter."

He was surprised she took it so well but decided not to push her. "I'm glad you see that, because that's the only reason I did it. I love you. I want you to be happy and you won't be happy until you're talking to your mother again."

"I love you." Rory leaned over and kissed him softly. "Now about dinner…" Tristan laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her up to follow him to the pub for dinner.


	31. Where You Lead I Will Follow

**AN: **Just because you were so patient here is the next chapter. There's only one more and then the story is over. Enjoy!

**Chapter 31: Where You Lead…I Will Follow**

She stepped out of the cab and smiled at the man. "Thank you sir." He nodded his head and drove off leaving Lorelai standing at the main gates to Oxford University, suitcase in hand, having no idea where to go. Looking around the campus it seemed to be a mix of Chilton and Yale; Lorelai immediately understood why Rory loved it here so much. A mixture of two of the best places in her educational life without the chaos that went with them. Stepping through the iron gates Lorelai began looking for students, hoping to find someone who would lead her to her daughter. It took some time to find a live person but eventually she did. "Excuse me?" She stopped the young lady who was walking across campus.

"You alright?" She asked, her accent surprising Lorelai as she had not spoken to many people since her plane landed and had not been expecting the accent.

"Fine thanks. I'm actually looking for someone; do you know a Rory Gilmore?"

"Sorry, don't know her. Good luck." The girl walked away and Lorelai was left with a heavy feeling in her heart. Not going to give up so early in the game, Lorelai continued walking around. "Excuse me," she stopped a young man and waited until he turned around. "I'm looking for Rory Gilmore, do you know her?"

"Mary?" He asked with a grin knowing she would hate him calling her that; only Tristan could get away with it. "Sure I do." Tyler stared a Lorelai curiously not knowing who she was and knowing how much Rory cherished her privacy. "What's it to you?"

"I'm looking for her; I've come to visit." She wasn't sure who this young man was and if she should tell him that she was Rory's mother.

"Is she expecting you?" His smiled became guarded, unsure of who the American woman asking for Rory was.

"No, probably not; but I'm her mother. I'd like to see her."

Tyler stared at the woman, taking in all of her features and putting the connection of this woman's face to Rory's. "Of course you are. Well, I don't know if she's home, but I'll take you to her dorm, Ella's probably there."

"Ella? Her roommate, right? Also American."

He nodded. "Yes, that's her."

"And who are you?"

"A friend."

"Do you have a name?"

"Oh. Right. Sorry. I'm Tyler."

"Ah, one of the American boys."

He grinned. "She's spoken about me?" Tyler liked knowing that Rory had mentioned him.

Lorelai nodded. "She told me about all her friends; through her letters of course, but I've heard about you all."

"Good to know." They stopped in front of a door and Lorelai became nervous as Tyler knocked on the door. As they waited for someone to answer his phone rang. "Yeah," he answered, not evening bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hey man, where are you? We're all at the pub."

"When aren't you at the pub?" He said with a laugh. His friends loved the pub.

"Shut up and get over here!"

"Yes ma'am!" Tyler hung up the phone while laughing and then remembered Lorelai was with him and no one had answered the door. "Oh well, I'm sorry that no one's home but you could come with me. I don't know if Ella or Rory is there but they may show up." He knew it would be awkward to show up with Lorelai but he wasn't going to leave her.

"Oh…no…that's okay. I'll just wait. One of them is bound to come back right? And if not well I'm sure there's a hotel somewhere."

"Yeah, I'm sure one will come back." He wasn't sure if it would be Rory because she usually stayed at Tristan's dorm. "Are you sure you're okay here?"

"I'm sure. Thanks Tyler." Lorelai watched as the young man walked away and left her there. Leaning against the wall she slid down until she was sitting on the floor wondering when her daughter would return and what awaited her.

**GGGG**

Tyler had been thinking about Lorelai his entire trip to the pub. When he got inside he noticed that both girls were present and was instantly relieved he didn't bring Lorelai with him. Walking into the pub with Rory's estranged mother who was unannounced probably wouldn't have gone over well. With a deep breath he watched his friends, trying to muster the strength to go over there and say nothing. Luckily, before he could make a decision Ella caught his eye and he motioned her over to him and waited until she followed him outside to say anything.

"What's going on Tyler? Are you okay?" She noticed him come into the pub, looking quite nervous and wondered what was going on. When he motioned for her to follow him outside she immediately excused herself and became slightly worried. Tyler was one of the more laid back guys of the group.

"You'll never believe who I left sitting outside of your room."

"Who?" She couldn't imagine that he would leave someone standing outside the apartment

"Lorelai Gilmore."

"Excuse me?" If he didn't already have Ella's full attention, Tyler did now.

"I was walking across campus earlier when a woman stopped me and asked if I knew Rory. She told me that she was her mother and damn, she has to be. I mean, I've never seen a picture but if you look close enough you see the eyes. It's all about those Gilmore eyes, I'm telling you."

"So she's sitting outside our dorm room NOW?" Ella asked completely surprised. She would have never thought Lorelai would show her face here. No matter what Tristan had told her about Lorelai missing her daughter, the right between mother and daughter seemed to have grown. Then again, Rory didn't speak about her mother to anyone besides Tristan unless it was a slip up.

"She is," Tyler said with a nod. "I actually told her she could come to the pub with me and see if you or Rory were there, but she opted not to. I think she would have felt uncomfortable."

"I'm glad she didn't. It was a good call on her part. I need to go back there though. She can't sit in the hall all night and I don't want Rory to walk into the hallway and see her."

"Are you going to tell her? Or say something to Tristan or…" Tyler didn't know what the right course of action is.

"I'll tell Tristan." Ella picked up her phone and called Tristan. "Hey Tris, I'm standing outside, just say you can't hear the caller and come talk to me, okay?" Ella hung up the phone and waited for her friend to come out of the pub.

"What's going on?" He looked at the two nervous faces staring at him and became nervous himself. He at least knew Rory was okay since he left her sitting in the pub with their friends.

"Lorelai's here," Ella told him straight out.

"Excuse me?"

"Tyler ran into her on campus, she's sitting outside my dorm; waiting for me or for Rory. I'm going there now, but I wanted to let you know."

"I can't believe she came. I mean, I wanted her to and Rory wanted her too but we didn't expect her to. Not really."

"Wait…you two were expecting her?" This news surprised Ella completed.

"Yeah. Rory sent her a few letters a couple of weeks ago and we figured that she would call or write or possibly come out here herself but no one was expecting it. I can't believe that she actually showed up."

"So this is a good thing?" Ella asked.

"Really good." He confirmed. "This means we're on our way to getting the real Rory Gilmore back."

"Well…what do you want to do?"

He thought about it for a minute. "You go back and talk to Lorelai. I'll tell Rory."

Ella nodded. "I'll see you guys soon." She turned and headed for her room, curious to know what Lorelai Gilmore was really like. She arrived ten minutes later and smiled to herself at the sight of the woman sitting on the floor obviously worried about what her daughter would do with her. "Lorelai?" She questioned hoping not to scare the other woman too badly.

"Ella I presume?" She responded once she looked up at the strange voice calling her name.

"That's me. Why don't you come in?" She unlocked the door and waited for Lorelai to enter and put her bag aside before walking in herself and closing the door behind her. "Would you like something to drink? If you're anything like your daughter I'm sure you're in dire need of a cup of coffee—a good cup of coffee at that."

Lorelai smiled. "I'd be forever grateful." She watched as the girl started brewing the coffee and inhaled the heavenly scent. "She has _Luke's_ coffee?" Lorelai asked completely surprised.

"A Thanksgiving present that she doesn't typically share even with Tristan but I think she'd make an exception for you."

"She better! I'm the one who weened her from a milk onto coffee; she knows better then to withhold the good stuff—and this is the best stuff you can get!" Lorelai was adamant about her coffee.

Ella couldn't help but smile over how similar Rory and Lorelai really were. "So…why are you here?" She couldn't help but ask; Rory hadn't heard anything from her mother in so long and now she was making an appearance; no matter what Tristan said it was still fishy to her.

"I should have been expecting that," Lorelai said as she gratefully took the cup of coffee she was offered. "And you deserve an answer. You've been there for Rory in so many ways, and thank you for that. Thank you for being there when she needed me and I wasn't there."

"You should thank Tristan. He's the one who brought her back; although he says you'll bring her back to who she really is."

"She's a part of me just like I'm a part of her. We don't work the same way without each other. I'm not whole without her; it took me a long time to really grasp that and a longer time to get over my stupidity but once I did…man, did I get it."

"Why did it take you so long to get out here?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Rory and I both needed time. I may be older but we grew up together.'

Ella nodded. "So you're here now."

"I am at that."

"What are you planning on saying?"

"I'm not sure. There will be an 'I'm sorry' and an 'I'm disappointed' as well as an 'I love you'. We have a lot of ground to cover, Rory and I."

"You do." She wasn't ready to just forget what Lorelai put Rory through. They were both at fault but Lorelai was still the adult in the situation. "She should be back soon. Tristan is letting her know you're here."

Lorelai nodded. She was hopeful that she'd get some time alone with her daughter but between Tristan and Ella she didn't know if that was possible. Of course Lorelai understood why they were hesitant to leave the pair alone, they needed time to talk things over themselves. "Good. I don't want her to be completely surprised." Although had she found Rory first she would have been surprised…hopefully good surprised.

"Are you nervous?"

"More nervous then I was when Luke and I first dating." Lorelai laughed realizing she hadn't been that nervous at all and Rory would kill her for making that analogy. "I take that back. I'm more nervous now then I was when I had to tell my parents and Chris's parents that I was pregnant."

"You've been more nervous then that?" Rory asked, walking through the door as if it wasn't unusual for her mother to be sitting in her common room at Oxford and drinking a cup of coffee while talking to her roommate. "Mmmm…Luke's. Thanks Ella." Rory took another sip of coffee and smiled at her roommate. She made a silent offer of coffee to Tristan and Carter, who had insisted on coming back with her, but they declined. "Refill?" She asked her mother, not even bothering for an answer and topping of the cup of coffee in Lorelai's hands. Rory saw her three friends watching her like a hawk, completely surprised by her nonchalance of her mother being there while Lorelai smiled. After putting the coffee pot down Rory went back over to her mother and hugged her tight. "I'm glad you're here. Tell me about the Inn. And Sookie and Jackson! And Taylor! What's going on with him? And Miss Patty? Oh and what about Babette and Morey? And the gnomes? And how is Lane? Mrs. Kim? Please tell me you have a good Kirk story, I need a good Kirk story! I've been deprived."

Immediately Lorelei grinned at her daughter and launched into a story about the last town festival knowing it would be best since it involved their favorite players in their prescribed roles. "So Michel got all huffy because Sookie wanted the baskets organized another way. And then when he found out he was supposed to give the bird watching tour…"

"Oh no, that can't be good." Rory started laughing without even having to hear the story. "Taylor didn't get to put up that stupid hay maze, did he?"

"Nope!" Lorelai answered with a proud smile. "Miss Patty figured out that he was going to spend all the Spring Festival money on the stupid thing and made sure it didn't happen. He was pissed. Which of course made Luke happy."

"Of course."

"And then Kirk…well…"

"Is he still dating Lulu?"

"Oh yeah. And he'll remind you of it all the time."

"So nothing's changed with Kirk?"

"As long as you keep in mind who Kirk is, sure nothing's changed."

Rory laughed knowing exactly what her mother meant. "What's his occupation this week?"

"Oh, well, this week I think he's an insurance agent. He's trying to sell everyone life insurance. It's ridiculous."

"I can only imagine. At least he's not dropping out of a plane without a parachute."

"I have good pictures of that though!"

"There are always good pictures of Kirk," Rory pointed out.

"True true. Oh! Sookie and Jackson send their love and a little something more." Lorelai stood and headed for her suitcase.

"Please tell me Jackson didn't send you with vegetables." Rory knew that the man loved his vegetables but she also knew they wouldn't last on a long trip."

"No veggies but Sookie did send me with some of her famous chocolate cake and peanut butter cookies!"

"Yes! I love her! I miss her cooking!" Rory exclaimed grabbing the bag of goodies from her mother and digging in. It was a little bit of heaven. "You guys want to try?" She held out the bag to her friends and they looked at her strangely. No one had expected her to react to her mother's arrival like this and no one had ever seen her act like this. Well, Tristan had, but not in a long time. "Come on, you don't know what you're missing!" They each tried a cookie and were pleasantly surprised at how good they tasted. Rory ate a few more before looking back at her mother. "Thank Sookie for me. You look tired mom, why don't you take a shower and get some sleep?"

"If you're sure…" She really wanted to have a serious talk with Rory; they had put it off long enough.

"I'm sure. You can sleep in my bed tonight."

"I'll take the couch, you need your bed," Lorelai argued.

"I was planning on staying at Tristan's." She looked at him to make sure he was still okay with that plan and with his nod Rory turned back to her mother and continued speaking, "so you can have my bed and I'll come back tomorrow morning and we can spend the day together."

"What about school?" She didn't want Rory to fall behind.

"Don't worry about that. I'll handle it. I can miss a day or two without falling behind."

Lorelai was surprised at this new attitude but decided against mentioning it. "Okay then;. I'm going to shower. You'll stay until I actually go to bed?" She didn't want Rory leaving just yet.

"Of course." She watched as her mother gathered her things and headed into the bathroom. It wasn't until the water was on that Ella spoke up.

"I don't understand," she said out loud.

"Don't understand what?" Rory asked, confused. She was biting into another cookie having forgotten how good Sookie's peanut butter cookies were.

"I don't understand how you can be with you mother like nothing's happened."

Rory shrugged. "We'll have our very serious conversation tomorrow but right now with all the jet lag in her it's not smart to start a conversation like that. Besides, she needed to know that I wasn't angry and that we would move on. Hell, I needed to know that we were okay. And now that we both know that the conversation tomorrow will go over better."

Ella nodded although she was still unsure. "I wish I had that kind of relationship with my mom."

"Everyone wants the kind of relationship with their parents that Rory has with hers," Tristan added.

"Let's remember that my parents were 16 when I was born. I grew up with my mom; it's part of the reason that we're so freakishly close. I'm also not a society child."

"Thank god for that," Lorelai said as she exited the bathroom in her playboy bunny pajamas.

"Those are new!" Rory accused, immediately wanting a pair.

Lorelai nodded. "Have no fear mini-me, I have a matching set for you in pink; I left them in The Hallow though."

"Good mommy." Rory smiled her approval and Lorelai beamed. "So you'll be okay here tonight?'

"Of course I will. I'm a big girl."

Rory looked at her mother skeptically and just laughed. "Ella, are you staying here tonight?" Her roommate nodded. "Good, so mom if you need anything talk to Ella or call me. Tristan's numbers are on the fridge." She walked towards her mother who was leaning on the door jam of her room. Pushing her inside the room so she could gather a few things to take to Tristan's, Rory smiled at Lorelai. "Thanks for coming here mom."

"Thanks for sending me those letters." The two Lorelai's hugged before Rory grabbed her bag and slung it on her shoulders. "Are you sure you're okay if I spend the night at Tristan's?"

"Go. I'm jet lagged. I know where the coffee is so by the time you get here tomorrow we can have the conversation we're both dreading."

Rory nodded. "I love you mom."

"Oh kiddo, I love you too. More than you know." They hugged again, this time each holding on a little longer before Rory left the room, closing the door behind her. "You ready Tris?"

"Let's go Mary." Tristan stood and smiled at his friends. "See you later. Call if anything goes awry."

They smiled. "We can handle Lorelai."

Rory snorted. "Good luck with that; you'll be eating those words in no time!" Tristan laughed along with her, knowing how much of a handle Lorelai could actually be while their friends just looked at them like they were insane. "Good night you two."

**GGGG**

The couple walked back to Tristan's room in silence, each lost in their own thoughts about Lorelei's appearance. Although, to be fair, Tristan was thinking more about why Rory was being so quiet then anything else. He knew how much she had wanted to speak with her mother, but talking to her in person, that was something else entirely. If anyone had asked him Tristan would have told them that Lorelai showing up at Oxford unannounced wouldn't have been a good idea; it would upset Rory too much. However, it seemed that he was wrong—he didn't know Rory as well as he thought he did; she was taking this all in stride. Or, he could have thought she was taking it all in stride but Tristan didn't buy it. He waited until they were settled in his dorm and the coffee was breaking before breaking their silence. "So Mary, how are you?"

She was silent for a few minutes, lost in her own thoughts and unsure how to answer Tristan's question. She'd certainly heard it, but she was so wrapped up in the fact that her mother was here, at Oxford, that she was processing little else. After almost a year of no contact with each other Lorelai had just shown up at school. Yes Tristan had spoken to Lorelai over Thanksgiving and letter sent some of her letters and yes Lorelai did call and yes that did prompt Rory to send the rest of the letters but she never thought that would prompt Lorelai into visiting. Seeing her mother and having a normal conversation was surreal, so surreal she wasn't sure what to do next. "I don't know," she answered honestly.

Tristan had watched her thought process and knew what her answer was going to be but still he wanted to hear it from her. Handing her a cup of coffee he smiled as they sat down on the couch. "Your mother is here."

"I know."

"And you had a very normal conversation with her."

"I know."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Talk to her?" Rory questioned with a shrug.

"Do you want to?" Tristan wanted her to; for no other reason then to get a little closure but he wouldn't force her to.

"I think so."

"You don't have to."

"I know."

"I can get her to leave."

"I know."

"I just want you to be happy…and okay…and feel good about yourself."

She smiled at him. "I know. You're good to me; too good to me some times."

"Not true."

Rory laughed. "Thanks for saying that. But for all the chaos and grief I bring into your life how you put up with me is beyond me."

"It's because I love you. It's not like I don't come without my own issues," Tristan reminded her.

"I know, but they don't matter to me. You matter to me."

"Right back at you." He smiled at her, glad the conversation was moving along.

"I don't know what I'm going to do about it," Rory told him, knowing what he was waiting for her. "I'm going to talk to her, that much I know, but what's going to happen…I don't know. I don't know that we can ever go back to the way things were. In some respects I want to and in others I don't. I'm just overwhelmed."

"That's okay. I just want you to talk to me about it."

She smiled at him. "You're the best boyfriend ever Tris." He blushed at the compliment and Rory laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day when Tristan DuGrey would blush over a simple compliment."

"I haven't had a lot of practice being a boyfriend. Cassie was different from you. She was special, but she wasn't you. I've been in love with you since I was 16; knowing that you think highly of me…well…all I want is for you to be proud of me."

It was Rory's turn to blush now. What started out as a conversation about her mother appearing on campus was turning into something completely different; not that Rory minded, but it was unexpected. "I am proud of you. You're an amazing man. I love you. Nothing can change that. What happened when we were 16 was then, life is different now."

"It sure it." Tristan briefly thought about what they were like when they were 16 and was relieved they had grown up since then. "That seems like such a long time ago, those Chilton days."

"Especially since you didn't last through graduation," Rory teased him.

"You would never be with me today if I had stayed through graduation."

"The almighty Tristan DuGrey doesn't believe he could have gotten me by the time we graduated high school? I never would have thought you'd have given up on me. I think I'm hurt."

"You would have never dated me, don't even try and make you think you would have given in."

"I started dating Jess my senior year, that could have been you. Or maybe you would have worn me down sooner.' Rory grinned at him, happy for the slightly serious but more teasing conversation they were having. It was helping her process.

Tristan laughed at her statement. "You may have dated Jess but you also broke up with Jess. I would have liked to last longer than that; I think I will too." He was thinking of being with her forever.

Rory smiled at the thought of a life with Tristan, it was a happy thought. She loved him. "We broke up because Jess is a coward. He couldn't tell me he failed his senior year so instead he dropped out of high school and moved to California to find his father without saying goodbye. He's in Philadelphia now and we really have no connection to each other besides Luke but it would have never worked for us. He runs away from everything, or he did. He owns a bookstore now so he can't afford to be irresponsible."

Tristan nodded. "Well I wasn't any less of a coward then he was. You rejected me and I broke into a safe with my two idiot best friends. Military school changed me though."

"I know. I'm happy for you. You're living up to your potential."

"You were my inspiration," Tristan teased her before leaning over and kissing her soundly on the mouth. "Even if I had never run into you here I wanted to be worthy of you…of someone on your level. I didn't want to be that 16 year old boy anymore."

"Good. But don't lose all of him, okay?" Rory asked with a mischievous smile.

"Really?" He wagged his eyebrows at her and Rory couldn't help but laughing.

"Yes really. There are parts of him I liked. I would have never admitted it to you back then, but I can now. You're a mixture of that guy and someone more mature, I adore it." She leaned over and kissed him in order to emphasize her point. A few seconds later Tristan was deepening the kiss, causing her to moan and as his hands moved up her sides to cup her face Rory couldn't help but thinking this was the perfect way to end a crazy day.

**GGGGGG**

"Are you sure you want to do this yourself?" Tristan asked Rory the next morning. They were walking to her dorm room from his the next morning so she could finally talk to her mother.

"I can't have you there with me for everything," Rory told him seriously.

"Yes you can. I can be there if you want me to."

She smiled at him, pausing their forward progress to kiss him. "Thanks for that, but I'm going to be a big girl and handle my mother myself. You've done quite enough. What you can do, however, is take Ella and Carter out as a thank you for dealing with my mother."

"I can do that," Tristan agreed. "You'll call me if you need me?"

"Always." She entered the dorm room to see her mother sitting on the couch sipping coffee and mocking something on television while her friends were at the table looking drained. Rory laughed and looked at the couple at the table. "Tristan's here to take you to breakfast, go with him, I can deal with the mockery going on."

"She's worse then you," Ella told Rory as she passed her to get to the front door.

"This is nothing," Tristan told her and Carter, "you've never seen Lorelai and Rory at it together."

"You haven't either!" Rory argued.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "We may not have been friends in high school Mary but I did pay a lot of attention to you…and in turn, your mother."

"Whatever. Go to breakfast, it looks like there is some serious mocking to do here!" She pushed the trio out of the room and sat down on the couch next to her mother. They mocked British television for a while before Rory started a conversation. "Have you eaten? Maybe we should go get something?"

'I'm always hungry. Where can we go around here?" Lorelai looked at her daughter with an unsure smile. It would probably be best to start this kind of conversation in a public place in case either of them wanted to get loud, but she hoped they could stay civil. There had been very few fights between mother and daughter through the years but they had always managed to make up quickly.

"Come on, we'll go to this really good inn that's around here. It's not Sookie's cooking but it's pretty good for English food."

"The only country without it's own type of food. Unless you count English breakfast, English tea and fish 'n' chips."

"That's true, but you learn to get over that." Rory told her mother, leading her away from campus and towards the quaint inn she had discovered one morning while wandering around. They sat down and ordered before stating anything heavy. "I'm surprised you replied in person," Rory started the conversation unable to hold back any longer.

"I am too," Lorelai admitted. "I read your letters over and over again. Luke read a couple, portions of it I shared with your father, I just needed someone else to tell me what they thought. You bared your soul to me, it was as if I was there with you but I wasn't. I missed the beginning of something wonderful for you out here because I couldn't get past your mistake. I'm sorry for that hun, I never meant for anything to get this bad. I never wanted you to cut me out of your life."

Rory sighed. "I do know that. But I did make a mistake and I knew you'd be disappointed in me but I never thought you'd act the way you did. You, of all people, who know what it's like to have one thing backfire and change your life, held this mistake against me. You assumed Logan forced me to steal the yacht and you pinpointed him as this awful influence because you couldn't believe I'd be anything less then perfect. Being perfect is hard mom."

"I know that, and I never expected you to be perfect Rory," Lorelai told her seriously.

"You were so used to it though, my perfectionism that is. I was perfect; I got good grades, I had sweet boyfriends—even if you weren't a big fan of Jess or Logan they were good boyfriends to me—and I was your mini-me. Then I went to college and grew up a little bit without your constant influence. I met Logan, and yes he changed me but not in a bad way. He exposed me to a way of life I had been warned against but never experienced myself. So I did. And that bugged you. It made things worse when I got in trouble with the law because now I wasn't so perfect, I wasn't living up to your expectations. I had created a glitch in your plan for me--your plan for me to do everything you didn't get a chance to—and that killed you."

"Yes, it did," Lorelai admitted. "I wanted you to go to college and get a good job off that bat because I didn't have that change. And yes, I saw Logan as a threat to that. You partied more with him, you went on expensive vacations with him, you changed."

"I grew up and met new people," Rory defended herself.

"You did," Lorelai agreed," and I wasn't ready for it. I didn't think about what would happen once you got to college. I didn't think about what kind of people you would meet. It was different when it was just Chilton; when you were at school a half hour away and came back to crazy Stars Hollow and me all the time. I could keep track of how you were maturing and dealing with society but at college I couldn't do that. It was just like poof one day you were my sweet Rory and the next you were this woman who was so involved in society. I didn't…well you know what I didn't do. And I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too Mom. I'm sorry for disappointing you and I'm sorry that I didn't think first. I was just…so overwhelmed…and when I needed you to be there and be understanding you flipped out on me. It was too much."

Lorelai nodded sadly. "You did disappoint me but I should have been understanding. I've always been the cool understanding mom and when you needed that the most I pulled the uncool mom card. I let you down."

When Rory would have answered breakfast was placed in front of them. There was a silent agreement to drop the conversation while they were eating.

"Tell me about Tristan," Lorelai requested as they continued to eat breakfast. They may not be talking about the rift but Lorelai could learn more about her daughter's life out here.

"He's amazing," Rory said with a smile. "I love him."

"He does seem to have matured from the kid we knew at Chilton."

"A totally different person," Rory confirmed. "He's been so good to me; and sure he comes with baggage but we all do."

"Baggage?"

Rory shrugged. "He's from society and taking over the family business. I think that just about covers it."

Lorelai nodded. "So he's Logan in England?" The minute the words came out of her mouth Lorelai knew she had said to much; Rory's face said everything. She instantly regretted the words having not meant them the way Rory probably was taking them. "I don't mean that in the bad way," Lorelai immediately tried to fix her error, "I just mean that he's blonde and society and taking over the business and you're dating him…"

"Tristan has similiarities to Logan, I can't deny that, but he's _not_ Logan and you need to understand that. You have to give Tristan more of a chance then you gave Logan."

"Trust me, this Richie Rich already has a lot of points in my book. He's done numerous things this year to fix what's going on between you and me. Logan never tried. He listened to you when you said you didn't want to talk to me. That was enough for him. Tristan obviously knows you better, he saw that you weren't yourself…well if you were anything like me you weren't like yourself."

"I haven't been," she confirmed. "I've been a different person. It scared Tristan at first."

"From your letters that's what it seemed like. But it's good that he recognized that."

Rory nodded. "He did everything behind my back though; he knew that I would need time before I did something myself but at the same time he couldn't just sit back and watch me be miserable. Tristan's amazing."

Lorelai smiled at the happy look on Rory's face. "Is he the one?" She never pictured herself asking her 21 year-old daughter about the man she wanted to marry but things with Tristan seemed serious.

"I…I think so. It's weird to think about it and there's so much that can happen before we decide anything but I love him. He's so good to me and such a good man. We were talking about our relationship last night actually."

"And what did you decide?"

"Nothing major," Rory said with a shrug. "We just talked about what was going on between us. We'd like it to last but life can get in the way. We're planning on moving past that stuff together though. I don't know," she shrugged again, "I love him and he loves me. Despite all the baggage and despite our history; we actually think we work better together because of the history."

"So I should be planning to have him as my son-in-law?" Lorelai teased.

This time Rory blushed. "It may be good to be prepared," she answered honestly. Lorelai stared at her for a moment and Rory turned the conversation away from her. "How's Dad?"

"He's good. He sends his love. You know if one good thing came from this year it's the relationship you've built with your father. While he never wanted to take my place not having me there made it easier for you to turn to him and he's enjoyed it. He always wanted to make up for those last years,"

"Dad's really been there for me this year. He's been great."

"Good, I'm glad. And you've seen your grandparents a bit too?"

"Grandma and Grandpa stopped by a few times; some expected and some not. But you know who did come by last week…"

"Who?"

"Dad's parents."

"What? What did they want?" Lorelai could handle her daughter being part of society, if she chose, because she knew Rory would never go to the "other side" completely but she did have a problem with the Hayden's bothering her. Since the moment Francine and Straub knew of her conception they wanted nothing to do with Rory; they would have been happier with Lorelai getting an abortion. And after everything they had said with Rory in their presence Lorelai wanted to continue to shelter her from her paternal grandparents.

"I don't know." Rory shrugged. "I told them to leave. They came unannounced and they were unwelcome. I couldn't imagine what they wanted…until they left of course."

"You don't mean…" Lorelai started.

"Oh yes I do. I spoke with Dad I'm sure. They want to make me heiress. They're getting old and all that. I'm sure they'll leave Dad something nice and something for Gigi as well but they want to give just about everything to me. Of course I don't know this for a fact but I'm pretty sure of it. What else would they want from me?"

"I don't know kid. But if this is what they're going to do you'll need to find out. If only so you don't get a shock when you hear it from someone else."

"True."

"But that doesn't have to happen now."

"I know." As the waitress took away the now empty plates sitting in front of the Gilmore girls, Rory thought about all the stuff she and her mother still had to talk about. It would be a conversation going around in circles about how they were both sorry because they had both made mistakes but she didn't want to deal with it. They were sorry, that was enough. Besides, the beauty of their relationship was that they could discuss things without having to pull them apart like most people. "Hey mom?"

Lorelai looked at Rory who had been lost in her own thoughts. "Hey Rory?"

"Can we just say that we're both sorry, we both made mistakes, and leave it at that?"

"I think that sounds perfect." And Lorelai was telling the truth. Thoughts of pulling apart their ten-month argument were driving her crazy. "What if you go introduce me to those friends of yours? They sound like they'd fit in Stars Hollow perfectly."

"Most of them would," Rory agreed. "Let's get out of here."

And just like that things between Rory and Lorelai were on the mend.


	32. I Wanna Talk

**AN:** After a couple of reviews regarding the ease of which Lorelai and Rory reconciled I have added another chapter. So this is NOT the last chapter. I have one more left. Hopefully this will help to show that their relationship was not perfect just because Lorelai showed up. They have a lot to work on but they're on the mend. It's not a big blow out but I think it's fitting. Let me know what you think….

**Chapter 32:****I Wanna Talk**

Rory was restless. She tossed and turned in Tristan's bed until she finally got up, afraid that he would wake up. Moving into the living room she surveyed her surroundings before heading into the kitchen looking for something to snack on. Making coffee would wake her boyfriend up and she wasn't quite ready to talk about what was bothering her. Particularly because she didn't know what was bothering her. Her mother was fast asleep in her bed, not caring that Rory was spending the night at Tristan's. It surprised her, how calm her mom was over her sleeping with Tristan regularly. Their conversation earlier that day had gone well, but her mother never really _got_ the relationship part of life. And Rory couldn't blame her there. First there was her dad and then Mr. Media, followed by Jason, and finally she and Luke got together. But Lorelai didn't know what it was like to be motivated by something other than providing for her family. It wasn't that she was wrong about a woman needing more to her than a man, Lorelai just didn't understand how a man could make things better at the end of the day—even at Rory's age. While being in society would have caused issues, having her father around would have drastically changed her mother's view on men. 

"Mary?" Rory was brought out of her thoughts by Tristan's voice. Cringing, she took another bite of the cereal in front of her before answering her boyfriend. 

"Did I wake you? I'm sorry? I didn't mean to. I was trying to be quiet. You should go back to sleep. I'll be there in a minute."

He smiled. She was cute when she was hiding something. And he always knew when she was hiding something. "What's up?" Tristan took a seat next to her and watched as she silently finished her cereal. When she said nothing he took the bowl and got up, placing it into the sink before starting the coffee. She's say something when she was ready. 

"It's been too easy," Rory finally answered his question. She had been thinking of the best way to share her thoughts. Sometimes it was difficult to explain to others what you were feeling. 

"What has been too easy?" From what Tristan had observed nothing about this past year had been easy. 

"My mother just shows up and everything's okay? I wrote her all these letters, I refused to talk to her for months and then all of the sudden she gets these letters, visits and now everything's okay? I'm letting her off the hook." She had been thinking about this ever since her mother had returned. Of course they had been able to ignore the elephant in the room, they had talked about everything going on back home and they had talked about school. They had talked about her grandparents and they had talked about what happened between them but on a very basic level. They had decided to forgive each other and leave it at that, but was that really enough? Could they really be just as they were a year ago?

Tristan had been waiting for this. He shared her concerns but didn't want to open a can of worms between her and Lorelai. The last thing he wanted was for Lorelai to dislike him for putting doubts in Rory's mind about their relationship. "Why do you think that?"

"Come on! I make a mistake and she bails on me! I move in with my grandparents and then move across an ocean without telling her! She gets engaged to Luke and says nothing to me! Not even an email! And now that she's made the effort to come out here, only after I sent her letters pouring out my heart and soul, I'm just supposed to forgive and forget? Nothing matters anymore because she came all the way out here? Seriously?"

He sighed. How was he supposed to help her through this? Without answering her rhetorical questions Tristan poured them both a cup of coffee and sat down to talk to her. "I don't have the answers for you babe, only you do. You have to know if you can just let Lorelai off the hook like that. Yes, you had to make the first move, but it's not like she just picked up the phone or ignored it; Lorelai came here. She wants to make the effort. She's just as stubborn as you are. Maybe it's possible to forgive and forget and maybe it isn't. Forgetting takes some time; because it's not just about forgetting, it's about trust. Your mother broke your trust. You thought she'd be there for you no matter what, but she wasn't. Lorelai always made a big deal about her parents not trying to be there for her when she got pregnant, but was she there for you when you 'got pregnant'?" Tristan used air quotes around that phrase. 

"You're equating my stealing a boat to my mother getting pregnant?" That was something she wasn't expecting. 

He shrugged. "Well…it fits, doesn't it?" 

She paused, thinking about the analogy. "Well, I guess you're right. My grandparents didn't support her, they tried to control her and decide what should happen from that point on. Mom did the same to me. I stole a boat and got caught, she tried to dictate what happened next. It didn't work. I never thought about it that way."

"I'm not saying it's the same exact situation but your mother was only doing what she thought was in your best interest. She just forgot to talk to you about everything. She has a hard time letting you go."

Rory nodded. "She's always had a hard time letting me grow up, but what do I do now? I don't want to start a fight. I don't want us to stop talking again."

"You have to talk to her Mary." She nodded. "It's not going to be easy, but it has to be done. Even if you argue now, it'll save the heartbreak later."

"You're right." Rory let out a sigh and put her head on the counter. It was a lot to deal with, reconciling with her mother and all. "She's leaving in two days too. I need to do it in person. I hate confrontation!"

Tristan laughed. "Just pretend she's blocking your locker. You never had a problem telling me off then."

"Ha!" She snorted. "I just didn't need you making out with the Barbie of the week on my locker."

"Well just channel those feelings and confront Lorelai. You'll feel better about yourself in the long run."

She sighed. "I guess."

"I know. Now come on, let's get some sleep. We still have classes tomorrow." Tristan finished the rest of his coffee before standing and taking Rory's hand, pulling her with him towards the bedroom. They both needed some sleep.

"Tris?" Rory called out softly after they had settled in his bed, her head resting on his chest.

"Yeah Mare?" His hand stroked up and down her back urging her to sleep.

"You'll be there with me right?" The circles he was tracing on her back were soothing and relaxing, urging her to sleep.

"With Lorelai?" The thought didn't appeal to him but he knew she needed him. And Tristan would always be there for Rory, no matter what. "If you want me to be," he answered when he felt her nod against his chest. "Now let's get some sleep. Tomorrow's a brand new day."

**GGGGGGGG**

It had been a stressful day. Classes were getting closer to the end and professors were beginning to start with talk of finals and papers. On top of those discussions Rory was lost in thought about her mother's visit. Did it make everything better? Could she forgive and forget that easily? Would they really be okay if she confronted her today? Rory knew Tristan was right and that she had to say something. Her mother was being just a bit hypocritical and as much as Lorelai hated to hear things like that she needed to. Her grandmother had never found a way to communicate facts that like to her daughter nicely and it caused Lorelai to be defensive. Rory only hoped that the close relationship the two had developed over the years would allow Lorelai to be a little less defensive. Even though Tristan being there would probably stop that from happening Rory needed him there for her. For once it wasn't going to be all about Lorelai Victoria Gilmore. 

"Hey Mom." Rory walked into her room knowing that everyone else would be gone for the day and it would just be her and her mom. 

"Hey kid, how was class?" She put the magazine on the table and looked at her daughter. She was nervous about something. "What's wrong?"

"We can't just leave it at that." Rory figured being blunt was best.

Lorelai had no idea what her daughter was saying. Usually they could start conversations in the middle and be okay but apparently being away for so long stopped that connection. "Excuse me?" 

"We can't just leave it at that. I know the other day I said that we could and I thought that we could but we can't. A lot has happened between the two of us and I can't just forget that. At all."

"I see." And in some ways Lorelai did understand but in many others she had no clue. Rory was never one to be confrontational. "Where is this coming from?" She didn't think accusing Tristan was the right way to go but Lorelai couldn't help but think he was putting these ideas in her kid's head.

"Before you go thinking Tristan is the devil you may want to hear what I have to say." Rory stared at her mother for a moment willing her to say something. "He's not a bad guy mom. He's really good to me and he cares about me and I care about him. We have something good going on."

"You also thought you had something good going on with Logan and look where that led you." Lorelai had no idea where that dig came from, she didn't come her to argue with her daughter. 

Rory sighed. "Logan was different mom. You saw situations where he wasn't the best boyfriend and never let him live that down. But Tristan isn't like that. He hasn't been a bad boyfriend; he hasn't cheated or lied or broken my trust. He's there for me no matter what, through all _my_ insecurities and issues. He's a good boyfriend. Granted his father is a little messed up but the rest of his family is great. I'd really appreciate it if you left him out of this conversation. Our issues aren't about Tristan, they're about us. You and me."

Lorelai stared at her daughter, trying to figure out what to do next. And she couldn't figure it out. "So talk to me kid. What's going on?" There was nothing to do but hear her daughter out. Listen to her pain and try and help her.

"You hurt me. You betrayed my trust in you. In our perfect relationship."

"No relationship is perfect," Lorelai countered. Before she could say anything more the door opened and Tristan slipped in. Both Gilmore girls looked at him but only one had a welcoming countenance. Lorelai raised her eyebrows at her daughter, obviously wanting to know what the blonde was doing there. 

"I asked him to be here mom. For me. He's not going to interfere, he's not going to say anything. Tristan is going to sit at the table and be there."

"So he's going to sit and judge?"

"No!" Rory rolled her eyes. "He's here for me because he knows how difficult it is for me to argue with you and share all these feelings. Besides, he's been here to see me go through all of these emotions."

"Whatever. Now, what were you saying before he walked through the door?"

It was going to take time. Rory recognized that fact but that didn't make it any easier to deal with. Just because her mother wasn't going to accept Tristan immediately didn't mean he was going anywhere. Lorelai had pressured her about boyfriends before but now it was time for Rory to choose who was best for her instead of her mother always getting her way. "You can't always get your way mom," Rory spoke her mind without even realizing it. "I'm not your puppet. You always say that Grandma and Grandpa are trying to turn me into everything that you couldn't be for them, but you never realize that you're trying to turn me into everything you couldn't be. You were just as disappointed in yourself for getting pregnant as your parents were." She held up her hand knowing that her mother would want to argue with her. 

"Please don't argue. I'm not saying you regret having me or you wish things had turned out differently but you have always wanted me to fulfill your footsteps; on your own 

terms of course. You wanted me to go to an Ivy League school and have an amazing job and a fabulous life only I wasn't allowed to be in society. And I thank you for that. I see the way I could have turned out and I'm thankful not to have that pressure. There is a reason I came to Oxford over joining the D.A.R. and I don't regret the decision. I'm not a perfect little society girl, but nor am I perfect. You've always pushed me to be perfect but I'm human mom, I make mistakes."

"I know that babe. I never expected you to be perfect."

"But you never thought I'd make a big mistake. You never thought that I am like you in every single way, did you? You never thought that I'd disappoint you the way you disappointed your parents, did you? Now you have something in common with Grandma and Grandpa, and that's scary, isn't it? I bet if you discussed the way you felt after picking me up from the police station and hearing I was dropping out of Yale they could sympathize. And me leaving for Oxford isn't that different then you leaving for Stars Hollow, isn't it? They heard about you through Dad, when he finally reached out and told them you were okay and where you were living. And it killed you to hear from them where I was, didn't it? It killed you that you had worked so hard to make sure I turned out differently from you, when in fact, I remained in your perfect imagine."

"That's not what I thought kid."

Rory raised her hand, signaling that she didn't want her mother to interrupt. "I know it wasn't your intention. I know that you didn't push me any harder then I wanted to be pushed. I didn't work any harder then I wanted to work. I wanted the same things that you wanted, and I still want them. I still want to be a journalist I just needed a little bit of a detour to get there. Life doesn't always work out the way that we plan mom. You've never been flexible about that. You've never given me a chance to figure out who I was in this whole picture."

Lorelai looked at the ground. Her daughter was making some really good points. "Are you sure you don't want to become a lawyer? Something tells me Straub would love to have you in his firm."

"Are you kidding?" Rory scoffed. She just laid everything out for her mother and she brings up her estranged grandfather.

"Okay, so maybe that was inappropriate timing but seriously kid, you can make one hell of an argument. Not to mention you can ramble with the best of them. I have taught you the most important things in life after all." Lorelai took a breath and looked her daughter straight in the eye. "I know I wasn't fair to you kid, and I'm sorry but I couldn't help it. I tried so hard to raise you to be the good kid. I never wanted you to run away from me like I ran away from my parents. I didn't want you to cause trouble because the minute you did that it meant that I had done something wrong as a parent. And you go off to Yale with all these snobby rich kids and what happens? You get arrested!"

"Three years into my education! I have to grow up some time mom! You've always respected the rebel."

"Maybe I have but not when it's my kid."

"A bit hypocritical, don't you think?"

"A lot hypocritical but wait until you're a parent. And then it'll be clear. It's hard kid, it's real hard. I only wanted the best for you, I kept you away from a life that had unreasonably high expectations and kids rarely turned out 'normal' from and what did you do? You went off and made friends with those kids anyway. And just as I feared those kids got you into things that I never dreamed of and got you into prison. Now I know that was your idea," from the sound of her voice Lorelai clearly didn't believe that, "but it doesn't matter. You still stole a boat and went to jail. I bailed you out. You did community service."

"I know."

"I didn't expect it. It took me off guard. And then you decide to drop out of Yale? You have no idea what that did to me. You weren't supposed to go off the course kid. You were supposed to do the right thing. Get back on the horse and put yourself together. You'd finally realize how bad Logan was for you and move on. But you didn't."

"I stayed with Logan because he supported me mom. The guy didn't ask questions when I suggested stealing that yacht. Of course he probably should have and he realizes that now but that's not the point. Even afterwards Logan supported me for exactly who I was. I was messed up, confused, and lost. You had disappointed me, you'd left my side because I didn't follow your rules 100 and I certainly didn't know how to handle that. Logan, well, he sat with me when I needed him to. He got me drunk when I needed to forget and he held me while I cried. Yes, it didn't work out for us. He couldn't handle everything going on with me on top of everything coming down from his father. I couldn't handle his father and this was better for us. But he was good to me mom."

Lorelai nodded. "I know he was. I realize that. I don't like it and I don't have to, but I realize he wasn't the demon I portrayed him. He's society though, he lives by a certain set of rules and he was never going to break away from them. Hopefully this rich blonde will be better. It seems like it."

"He has yet to disappoint," Rory confirmed.

"Good. I'm sorry about all of this Rory. I should have been both your mom and your best friend. I wasn't."

"It's not going to be easy."

"I know." And Lorelai didn't know. She knew that it wasn't going to be easy to get their relationship back to where it was. But they were going to work on it. The easiest part would be the banter and the inside jokes. The hard part would be the trust. Lorelai really screwed this one up but she had a bond with her daughter that not even an argument like this one could sever.

"You didn't tell me about Luke." Rory's voice broke into Lorelai's thoughts. 

"Excuse me?" 

"You're engaged. To Luke. And you didn't tell me. Not even a note to let me know. Grandma told me." Lorelai looked down at her hands, obviously embarrassed by the truth. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged like a little kid. "I was hurt. I wasn't trying to hurt you but I know I did. But we were no where near the point where I could call you up and tell you that I was engaged."

"And why not? Why couldn't you call me up and tell me that you were engaged to the man who I've always considered a father? I may have been very angry with you but I would have been happy too. I thought we were best friends."

"We are!" Lorelai argued. "I just didn't know how to approach you. I've been fighting with your grandparents about the situation and I didn't want to prove them right!"

"It's always about them mom! You can never be the bigger person and let them know that you made a mistake. That you're not perfect. Admitting that to them is asking too much, isn't it? All you had to do was ask Grandma for my phone number and you couldn't even do that! Do you know how much that hurts?"

"I'm sorry kid. I don't know what else to say. It's hard for me to ask my parents for anything, you know that, but I should have asked them this time. I was wrong."

Rory nodded. "Yeah, you were."

There was silence in the room for a long time. "We'll be okay though, won't we?" Lorelai knew it would take a while for things to get where they once were, but she needed to know that things would work out with her daughter. 

Rory briefly caught Tristan's eyes before answering her mother. "We'll be okay," she confirmed. "It's not going to happen over night though."

"I'm not expecting it to. I just want to know that I haven't lost my best friend."

"You never will," Rory told her. "Never."

"Thanks kid." Lorelai smiled at her.

Rory returned the smile and moved towards her mom, craving the contact that only her mother could provide. The reassurance that things weren't as bad as they seemed. The words that couldn't be said, only conveyed through the tight hug she provided.


	33. The Final Piece of the Puzzle

AN: I'm sorry it's taken to long to post this chapter

**AN:** I'm sorry it's taken to long to post this chapter. There's no excuse. Really. Except life getting in the way. Regardless, here is the FINAL chapter of this story. I hope you've all enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!!

**GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG**

**Chapter 33: The Final Piece of the Puzzle**

Lorelai had stayed at Oxford for the rest of the week. She and Rory worked on building their relationship back to where it once was; it was a slow process but it was working. As was normally the case, the craziness of Lorelai helped her fit in with all of Rory's friends. And all 14 of them were pleasantly surprised at the "new" version of Rory that seemed to appear after she and Lorelai made up.

"So this is what you had been talking about?" Katie asked Tristan one afternoon when they were hanging out in her dorm.

"Excuse me?" Katie's question had come out of nowhere and Tristan was lost on what exactly she was talking about. "We all weren't privy to your internal monologue."

She glared at him before answering. "About Rory. She's changed every since her mother was here; this is why you are so head over heels about her."

"I loved her even when she wasn't like this," he reminded his friend. "But this is part of why I wanted them to make up. Rory isn't herself without her mother in her life. She's wonderful either way but I know she's happier this way."

"Listen to you being all in love," Abby teased. "Before we know it you'll be picking out a ring." Tristan looked down at his hands and everyone gasped. "You have a RING?"

"Kind of. My grandmother gave it to me over Thanksgiving. She told me that even if the relationship was brand new she knew that I had been waiting for Rory since I was 16 and there was no way I would let her go. Rory's it for me, my grandmother knew that, and she handed over the engagement ring my grandfather gave her. Her original ring; so it's not too flashy, just flashy enough."

"How flashy is not too flashy?" Ella asked knowing exactly what kind of ring his grandmother would have.

"This one's almost two carats and I believe when last appraised valued at close to 1.5 million."

"Are you kidding me?" Carter's eyes widened. While he knew Tristan's family had money he never knew just how much.

"Nope. But please don't say anything to her. I'm not proposing now; the ring is in a vault in London. I don't want to freak her out."

"You'd be surprised at how un-freaked out she'd be," Ella mentioned.

"Excuse me?" Tristan looked at the girl intensely.

"I'm not saying you should go off and propose now or anything, by any means, I'm just saying that Rory's decided you're the one. If you gave her any kind of promise ring or anything like that she would love it. She doesn't expect it but she's decided on you as well."

"Thanks for telling me," Tristan said although he wasn't quite sure how that piece of information made him feel. On one hand he was happy Rory felt that way about him but on the other hand knowing she had decided on him made him nervous. What if he wasn't good enough for her?

"Stop thinking you're not good enough. This is Rory Gilmore, if you weren't good enough she wouldn't be bothering with you," Carter told his friend, knowing what he was thinking.

"Thanks man."

"Has she decided about next year?" Tim asked. The gang would part for the summer when the term was over but everyone, including Ella, was coming to back for their final year.

"She hasn't said anything to me yet," Tristan told them before looking at Ella. "Did she say anything to you?" He figured they would be living together again if Rory decided to come back to Oxford to graduate.

"She hasn't…but that's actually something we wanted to talk to you about…or should I say Carter wanted to talk to you about," Ella said slowly.

"What's going on?" Tristan looked at his friend who was looking at his girlfriend with daggers in his eyes.

"About next year…well…while rooming together has been great…" Carter was obviously nervous about telling Tristan this.

"You're moving in with Ella?" Tristan finished for him with his trademark smirk in place. "That's great! I'd want to live with Rory if she was coming back too. And if she chooses not to I'll live by myself. It'll probably be the last time I would get to for the rest of my life." Tristan stopped at the end of his sentence realizing the finality of what he was saying. Assuming that Rory didn't come back to graduate form Oxford he would live by himself until he moved back to America where they could live together. If that wasn't final then what was?

"You've got it bad," Jasper pointed out.

"Who's got it bad?" Addison asked entering the girl's room with Eli and Lucy.

"Where is everyone else?" Jasper asked, having expected the whole Michigan crew to show up as well.

"They're listening to Rory have some ridiculous conversation with Lorelai. Or at least I think it's Lorelai, I don't know who else she would talk to like that."

"Her grandmother if she really wanted to get on her nerves, which is possible depending on what Emily is up to; she's quite the schemer." And while Emily loved that Rory and Tristan were dating she was starting to plan a wedding that hadn't been formally announced and it was driving everyone crazy.

As if she knew they were talking about her, Rory entered the room a moment later with the rest of the gang and an annoyed look on her face. "No Grandma, I cannot come home any sooner then my plane ticket. I don't care if you'll buy me a new one; I'm not coming back for some ridiculous D.A.R. event!" Rory listened to her grandmother's response before sighing and continuing with her argument. "No, no and no! I don't care if the ladies miss me, they shouldn't! I was never formally inducted. I went to a few events because you asked and I'm not rearranging my plans so I can show up to some ridiculous fundraiser!" Once again Emily must be putting up a counter argument but Rory would hear none of that. "I don't care Grandma. I have finals and a life here that I need to deal with. I know that the money is going to a good cause but that doesn't mean I'm coming home early so you can parade me around in front of your friends!" Rory practically growled the last part out. "Yes Grandma, I know that being nominated as a Rhodes Scholar is impressive but that doesn't mean I'm going to become a dog and pony show for you and your friends! AH!" She screamed into the phone obviously annoyed with her grandmother. "Is Grandpa there?" She asked, knowing she'd get further in the conversation with her grandfather. "Thank you! Hi Grandpa, how are you? That's good. Yes, I know, Grandma's been trying to get me home early so she can parade me around to all of her friends. You understand? Thank you! Let's go to The Club when I get home okay? I'll rip up some grass and get the gossip while I take a steam?" The smile was wide across her face as she remembered the first time she went with her grandfather to their club. It was an experience and she still wore the hat her grandmother gave her every time she went. "Okay, I'll see you in a couple of weeks. I love you too. Thanks Grandpa!" She hung up the phone and sighed while leaning back against the couch. "My grandmother can be very frustrating!" She announced to the group.

"You've been nominated as a Rhodes Scholar?" Eli asked thinking of that piece of information above anything else.

Rory blushed. "Yes. And because of that my grandmother thinks she should parade me around to all of her friends. It's ridiculous. Thank goodness for my grandfather."

"Were you going to tell us?" Tim asked.

"That my grandmother was insane? I thought you all knew that," she teased them. "Of course I was going to say something!"

"Congratulations! That's amazing!" Tristan hugged her and kissed her soundly. "When do you find out?"

"Sometime in the middle of next year I think," she told him. "I'm fuzzy on the details. I just found out about the nomination. A letter came in the mail."

"Congratulations Rory!"

"Thanks guys. And it seems I have something else to announce as well." They all looked at her strangely and Rory laughed. "I seem to remember you all bothering me about what I was going to do come fall," she told them.

"Right! Have you made a decision?"

Tristan scoffed. "A decision? Well only if she's made about 100 pro-con lists and discussed every single line item with her mother."

"And I'll have you know that's exactly what I did! That's why the decision took so long!" They all laughed at her. "And it wasn't 100 pro-con lists it was two! So there!" She stuck her tongue out at him and he just laughed.

"So come on, don't keep us in suspense here! Where are you going next year?" Abby asked, very curious.

"Well after careful consideration I've decided my diploma should come from Oxford." Rory said it very quickly as if she expected a bad reaction.

"Really?" They were all screaming and excited, obviously happy that she would be sticking around for another year,

She nodded with a huge grin on her face. "Really, really."

"Come on! We need to celebrate!" Eli grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the table and towards the door.

"Slow down! Slow down! I don't run!"

"Blah, blah, stop giving me that, we need to celebrate!"

"Are we at least bringing the others along?" Rory asked, not knowing if they were following."

"We're right behind you Rory," Addison called out.

"Thank god! Your best friend is crazy!"

"Don't I know it!" He had matched their pace by now.

"Where's Tristan?"

"He was sitting on the couch shocked for a moment or two but he's coming. I think he wants to celebrate privately tonight," Addison told her with a wink.

"Dirty!" Rory exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. "What are we having?" Eli shoved her on a bar stool and called over the bartender. They quickly downed two shots before the others showed up.

"Okay, enough, I'd like her _not_ to be hung over tomorrow."

"My hero," Rory cried dramatically, causing them all to laugh.

"Well I certainly do try Mary." Tristan helped her off the barstool and over to the table where the others were congregated. "I'm glad you're coming back next year," he told her as they sat down.

Rory beamed at him. "Me too. Mom will be visiting a lot more though. And I'll have to go back to Stars Hollow more often." Money wasn't an issue for her; she knew her grandparents would work it out for her.

"I'll go with you then," he decided. "If that's okay." He realized he had just invited himself and felt bad.

"You're always welcome. I'm happy you want to come visit my crazy town."

"It made you who you are today," he told her seriously.

Rory laughed. "I'm going to take that as a compliment. "

"You're going back there this summer, aren't you?" Lucy asked.

"Yup. I'm excited!" She clapped her hands together like a little kid.

"Can we all come visit?" Lucy motioned to the group around her, the Michigan crew, who were all nodding their heads in agreement. They wanted to see the infamous Stars Hollow up close.

"Of course! There's room for you at The Dragonfly and I'll make sure it's over a festival weekend. Those are the most fun."

"Sounds good."

"We want to visit too!" Abby demanded.

"Really?" Rory didn't see them as the crowd that would want to come to some little town in America. Besides, she still didn't think they liked her that much.

"It would be fun," Tim insisted.

"I'm going to visit Ella this summer anyway," Carter told her, "you're not that far from Boston, right?"

"Right," Rory agreed. "Besides my Dad lives there so I can come up there as well."

"What about me?" Tristan said with a pout. "Everyone wants to visit Mary but no one wants to see me!"

"Oh please, wherever she is you'll be. We're not worried about seeing you."

"I see how it is." He continued to pout like a five year old.

"Do you want us to come see your house and meet your family?" Carter teased.

"No!" He said immediately. "Well everyone but my dad is okay, I don't know if I can arrange that thought. We'll see."

"I don't think I would want to meet him anyway," Belle informed him. "He scares me."

"That's his main goal in life," Tristan told them, "to scare people."

"But you can't let him," Rory told them. "Just stand up to him and watch the steam come out of his ears. It's fun!"

Tristan scoffed. "How would you know? You've yet to stand up to my father."

"Just wait my dear, just wait." She patted his cheek affectionately and everyone around them laughed. The evening was off to a terrific success.

**GGGGG**

They were on the plane back to America. Tristan had convinced Rory to let him pay for first class tickets so they were comfortable for the long flight into Boston. From there they were driving back to Connecticut; somehow convincing Lorelai not to meet them at the airport. Rory still didn't know how Tristan convinced her mother of that and really it made her sad. She loved meeting her mom at the airport and causing a scene. The plane had leveled off and Rory had her eyes closed letting herself calm down from the slight fear of flying that she had and letting herself loosen her grip on Tristan's hand. "I'm sorry," she mumbled to him.

Tristan just laughed. "Don't worry about it Mary. Now when I can't do my work properly I have a good excuse."

She glared at him. "Oh no you don't, let's not give your father another reason to dislike me, shall we?"

"Well it's a good thing I work for my grandfather isn't it Mary? This way he'll yell at me for not being stronger for my woman."

Rory laughed. "I knew I liked your grandfather."

He shook his head. "You have him wrapped around your finger and you know it."

"I know!" Rory was pleased with herself over it as well. Even if his father didn't like her at least the rest of his family did.

"There's something I want to ask you," he said seriously, breaking the teasing mood between them.

"Okay…" The sound of his voice and the abrupt change in conversation worried her.

"I don't really know how to say this. I've been thinking about it for a few weeks now but I just couldn't come up with anything. And of course I'm nervous about what you'll say but it seems that this is my last chance before the chaos of being home surrounds us. So I'm going to ask you now."

Rory stared at Tristan. She'd never heard him ramble like this before; he must have picked up a few things from her over the year. "What's going on? You're making me nervous."

"Sorry, I don't mean to, it's just that I'm nervous myself."

"Nervous about what?" She was completely lost.

"What you're going to say. How you'll answer my questions."

"Well you won't know until you ask, now will you?" She smirked at him and Tristan glared. She was getting so good at replicating his smirk that he was beginning to understand why people hated to see it cross his countenance.

"Okay, here it goes." Tristan took a deep breath and began again. "Since you'll be coming back to school at Oxford next year…and well…Ella and Carter are moving in together next year, did you know that?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah, Ella told me the night that he asked her. She was so excited. I'm so happy that they've gotten past her mother's insecurities."

"Me too." And he was. "But sine they're moving in together you don't have a roommate and well…I was hoping that I could take her place. I mean. What if...Rory, do you want to live with me next year?" He looked at her unsure of what her answer would be.

"Are you sure?" Rory stared at him, unable to believe that he actually wanted to live with her. Yes, they had discussed the future before, but never seriously. Just in a basic way assuming that they were still together, but life could be funny sometimes. Things don't always work out the way you plan them.

"Of course I am! I would love to live with you. After all, if you decided to go back to Yale we'd be living together once we graduated and I came back to America."

"We would be?" Rory asked, shocked that he had really worked this out in his head.

"Oh, um…" Tristan realized he said too much. "Well I wasn't planning for an ocean to break us up and…"

Rory grinned at him. "Don't worry Tris, I know what you're saying and yes! I would love to live with you next year. I think it'll be good for us. Our relationship will move in the direction we've been talking about." She leaned over and kissed him soundly. "If only we weren't on a plane right now."

"Really?" He raised his brows at her. "We can still do stuff you know…I've yet to become a member of the mile high club and who better to be inducted with then my very own gorgeous girlfriend."

Rory glared at him and slapped his arm. "Tristan! Seriously! Besides, wasn't there something else you wanted to ask me?" She was trying desperately to make her red cheeks calm down and her mind to stop thinking about his suggestion.

"Don't deny you're not thinking about it, you are, I can tell," he teased her. Tristan knew she'd never go for it but he loved how wired up she was about it. She liked the idea but was too shy to go through with it. It made him feel good to know she wanted him that much.

"You had another question," she prompted him wanting to get off the topic of having sex with Tristan in an airplane bathroom.

"Yes, I did." Knowing that she wanted to move in with him helped him relax over this question, of course he could have done it the other way around but it didn't work out that way for him. "Rory, will you…" He reached into his carryon bag and pulled something out. Opening the ring box he showed it to her. "Now don't get any ideas," Tristan tried to reassure her, "I'm not proposing. But I would like for everyone to know that you're taken. It's a promise ring," he explained. Rory just stared at him. "You can wear it on whatever finger you want, but I wanted to make this promise to you and…" Tristan didn't get chance to finish his sentence before Rory attached her lips to his. "Are you sure you don't want to join that club Mary? You seem to be quite frisky this afternoon."

Rory slapped him playfully, blushing at his word. "You're the perfect man, you know that?"

"I'm not perfect Mary."

"You are in my eyes," she said seriously.

"So I take it you like the ring?" He teased her.

"I'd think you were perfect even if there wasn't a ring."

"I know that babe," he smirked at her, "but what do you think of the ring?"

She looked down at the ring, noticing that it was probably a platinum band because he'd want her to have only the best no matter how much she insisted white gold was just fine with a beautiful sapphire in the center. Nothing too big or flashy but enough to make a statement to anyone looking at her hand; even by wearing it on her right hand it was a ring that shouted she was taken. "It's beautiful. I would say it's too much but you would just scoff and blow me off."

"You're right. This is nothing compared to what I wanted to get you."

"I can only imagine." Little blonde rich boys just loved to spend money—on her no doubt—and while that was certainly nice she hated when they spent money like that on her.

"So?" Tristan looked at her impatiently wanting a formal answer to his slightly informal question.

"I would be honored to wear the ring," she told him softly, a smile playing on her lips.

"Good!" Tristan grinned as he took the ring out of the box and stared at her. "What finger?" He didn't know where she'd be comfortable wearing it. After thinking it over for a moment Rory held out her right hand and wiggled her ring finger. He slid the ring on her finger and smiled at the perfect fit. "It fits," he said happily.

It didn't surprise Rory at all. After the way they had come together this year it was only natural that he would pick out a ring that fit her perfectly. With a broad smile on her face she leaned over and kissed him again. "Now about that mile high club…" And all the other passengers could hear for the rest of the flight was her laughter as Tristan sat stunned by her insinuation.


End file.
